Kamar Abdullahi

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a method frequently used to record the components of brain activity and neural signaling. Evidence of neural abnormalities at certain oscillation frequencies (e.g., alpha range, 8-12 Hz) during resting state in people with psychosis has been observed, but further study is needed in order to clearly understand the differences in brain signaling in psychosis. In this study, we collected EEG data from participants with psychosis (PwP) and healthy controls using a four minute resting paradigm (2 minutes eyes open, 2 minutes eyes closed) where no stimuli were presented. Using EEGLab (MATLAB extension), we then filtered artifacts and additional noise using ICA methods. The 1/frequency (aperiodic) line from original data was then subtracted using Fit Oscillations One Over F (FOOOF) toolbox to allow for the analysis of oscillations in the alpha (8-12 Hz) range. A prominent alpha peak was observed in most, if not all datasets, and data quality overall looks good for both people with psychosis and healthy controls. We then plotted FOOOF graphs and differences in data were then compared between eyes open and eyes closed data. Through our observations, we have found that the amplitude of oscillations in the alpha range in the eyes closed data is significantly higher than in the eyes open data. Although we have not yet gathered sufficient data to compare PwP and controls, further analyses will include significance tests for group differences in alpha peak frequency and amplitude.