Association Between Resting-State Microstates and Ratings on the Amsterdam Resting-State Questionnaire

There is a gap in understanding on how physiologically observed activity is related to the subjective, internally oriented experience during resting state. Microstate analysis is a frequent approach to evaluate resting-state EEG. But the relationship of commonly observed resting-state microstates to psychological domains of resting is not clear. The Amsterdam Resting-State Questionnaire (ARSQ) was recently introduced, offering an effective way to quantify subjective states after a period of resting and associate these quantifiers to psychological and physiological variables. In a sample of 94 healthy volunteers who participated in closed-eyes 5 min resting session with concurrent EEG recording and subsequent filling of the ARSQ we evaluated parameters of microstate Classes A, B, C, D. We showed a moderate negative association between contribution (r = −0.40) of Class C and experienced somatic awareness (SA). The negative correlation between Class C and SA seems reasonable as Class C becomes more dominant when connections to contextual information (and bodily sensations as assessed with SA) are loosened (in reduced attention states, during sleep, hypnosis, or psychosis). We suggest that the use of questionnaires such as the ARSQ is helpful in exploring the variation of resting-state EEG parameters and its relationship to variation in sensory and non-sensory experiences.