MEG Microstates: An Investigation of Underlying Brain Sources and Potential Neurophysiological Processes

Microstates are transient scalp configurations of brain activity measured by electroencephalography (EEG). The application of microstate analysis in magnetoencephalography (MEG) data remains challenging. In one MEG dataset (N = 113), we aimed to identify MEG microstates at rest, explore their brain sources, and relate them to changes in brain activity during open-eyes (ROE) or closed-eyes resting state (RCE) and an auditory Mismatch Negativity (MMN) task. In another dataset of simultaneously recorded EEG-MEG data (N = 21), we investigated the association between MEG and EEG microstates. Six MEG microstates (mMS) provided the best clustering of resting-state activity, each linked to different brain sources: mMS 1–2: left/right occipito-parietal; mMS 3: fronto-temporal; mMS 4: centro-medial; mMS 5–6: left/right fronto-parietal. Increases in occipital alpha power in RCE relative to ROE correlated with greater mMS 1–2 time coverage (τ_bs < 0.20, ps > .002), while the lateralization of deviance detection in MMN was associated with mMS 5–6 time coverage (τ_bs < 0.16, ps > .012). No temporal correlation was found between EEG and MEG microstates (ps > .05), despite some overlap in brain sources and global explained variance between mMS 2–3 and EEG microstates B-C (rs > 0.60, ps < .002). Hence, the MEG signal can be decomposed into microstates, but mMS brain activity clustering captures phenomena different from EEG microstates. Source reconstruction and task-related modulations link mMS to large-scale networks and localized activities. Thus, mMSs offer insights into brain dynamics and task-specific processes, complementing EEG microstates in studying physiological and dysfunctional brain activity.