[Eeglablist] What are the pros and cons of different references for resting-state EEG?

[Joseph Dien]

Hi David!

    It doesn't really matter.  For all the methods I am aware of, they 
either rereference internally (i.e., to average reference), or they use 
a method that is insensitive to reference choice, like CSD.  The only 
issue I can think of is REST, where you can't rereference it, so you'd 
need to be using software that allows you to turn off the internal 
rereferencing, for the ones that do that.  You'd also need to make sure 
all the electrodes have the same reference, so including some bipolar 
ones (e.g., left HEOG minus right HEOG) with the common reference ones 
would not work. Also, you'd want to make sure to include the reference 
channel, which would be all zeroes.  Exceptions would be average 
reference (it's fine if it gets rereferenced) or mean mastoids where 
you've thrown away one or both mastoid channels.  The case where you've 
only got one of the mastoid reference channels is fixable as the missing 
one is simply the mirror image and could readily be added back in by 
yourself.

Cheers!

Joe


On 9/10/26 17:06, Gilbert, David G via eeglablist wrote:
> What are the pros and cons of different references for resting-state EEG? In the past many people used linked mastoids or earlobes for topological analyses, but what for referencing is best for source localization?
> David Gilbert
> _______________________________________________
> To unsubscribe, send an empty email to eeglablist-unsubscribe at sccn.ucsd.edu or visit https://sccn.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/eeglablist .

-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joseph Dien, PhD
Senior Research Scientist
Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology
University of Maryland, College Park
https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://joedien.com__;!!Mih3wA!HbFInXlwiUruOQYUPN4suLXtD_rUiKl4CT9RzBXJRgi016IUyICFKQU7LFz6kk-1QJCWNFsSqdfY_ST1r2s$