In view of the widespread use of electroencephalographic correlation (
r) and coherence (Coh) analyses in studying brain functional relations
hips, it seems important to illustrate results yielded by both methods
. Although they are considered as equivalent, they show important diff
erences. Results obtained from r and Coh were compared using: (a) 2 Hz
sinusoidal signals, where phase and amplitude were artificially manip
ulated and, (b) Coh and r spectra obtained: between each pair of deriv
ations (C3, C4, F3, F4, T3 and T4) from wakefulness, stage 2, stage 4
and paradoxical sleep (n = 8). The following results were obtained: si
gnificant Pearson product-moment coefficients were obtained between r
and Coh spectra in the range of 0.86 to 0.96 for interhemispheric and
0.60 to 0.90, for intrahemispheric pairs; as a result of principal com
ponent analyses, the same three frequency bands were formed for r and
Coh spectra with the exception of one single bin; similar results for
r and Coh were obtained by two-way ANOVAs (physiological stages by der
ivations). In conclusion, as expected, a high degree of comparability
between r and Coh was observed under normal physiological conditions a
nd with the use of good quality recordings.