  The aim of this study is to investigate bursts- related EEG signals in a
focal hand dystonia patient. Despite of considering time domain and frequency
domain techniques as mutually exclusive analysis, in this contribution we have
taken advantage from both of them: particularly, in the frequency domain,
coherence was used to identify the most likely frequency bands of interaction
between brain and muscles, then, in the time domain, cross-correlation was
exploited to verify the physiological reliability of such a relationship in
terms of signal transmission delay from the centre to the periphery. Our
preliminary results suggest - in line with recent literature - that activity in
the high beta band (around 30 Hz) could represent an electroencephalographic
correlate for the pathological electromyographic bursts affecting the focal
hand dystonia condition. Even though a future study on a larger sample is
needed to statistically support these preliminary findings, this contribution
allows to think of new kinds of rehabilitation from focal hand dystonia that
could target the actual electroencephalographic correlate of the pathology,
i.e. phenotypically expressed by bursts, with the consequence of a relevant
functional improvement.
