What are EEG microstates?
Electroencephalography microstates represent discrete brain states lasting approximately 50–120 ms. These transient states reveal fundamental principles of brain dynamics and large-scale brain organization.
Clinical applications show both promise and limitations. In schizophrenia, robust alterations are observed in patients and unaffected siblings, establishing microstates as candidate endophenotypes.
Alzheimer’s disease reveals systematic microstate changes paralleling cognitive decline.
Sleep and consciousness studies validate microstates as fundamental brain state markers, but they also challenge simplistic functional interpretations.
Future progress would require methodological consensus on optimization criteria and group comparison approaches, as well as a community commitment to sharing templates and datasets.
https://www.cell.com/trends/neurosciences/fulltext/S0166-2236(26)00074-3
