An introduction to the coherence function and its use in EEG signal analysis.

The coherence function quantifies the association between pairs of signals as a function of frequency and has been shown to be useful for measuring changes in EEG topography related to cognitive tasks, psychopathology, and other aspects of brain organisation. For a narrow frequency band, its magnitude is analogous to the correlation coefficient between the signals limited by that band, but its value may differ because of the way that smoothing over frequency is achieved. The coherence function is described in physical terms using simple waveforms.