Brain Dynamics in Engaged and Relaxed Psychophysiological States Reflecting the Creation of Knowledge and Meaning

Scalp electroencephalography (EEG) provides a practical tool for the identification and characterization of various brain states, including healthy and diseased conditions. We measure brain dynamics on the scalp via a HydroCel Geodesic Sensor Net, 128 electrodes dense-array EEG. We compute the pragmatic information index (PI) by Hilbert analysis of the EEG signals of 20 healthy participants. We compare 6 task modalities, combining different audio-visual stimuli, leading to various mental states, predominantly relaxed versus engaged. We analyze PI values to classify different brain states. We show significant differences between the measured neural signatures depending on the task modalities, based on both qualitative and quantitative analysis. The results can help to develop tools for medical diagnostics of stress-related mental conditions.