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  • Perspective
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Harnessing electroencephalography connectomes for cognitive and clinical neuroscience

Nature Biomedical Engineering volume 9, pages 1186–1201 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Electroencephalography (EEG) connectomes offer powerful tools for studying brain connectivity and advancing our understanding of brain function and dysfunction in both healthy and pathological conditions. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of EEG discovery, this Perspective explores the frontiers of EEG-based brain connectivity in basic and translational neuroscience research. We review new concepts, emerging analysis frameworks and significant advances in harnessing EEG connectomes. We suggest that leveraging machine learning approaches may offer promising paths to maximize the strengths of EEG connectomes. We also discuss how combined EEG connectome and neuromodulation provide a personalized and adaptive closed-loop paradigm to promote neuroplasticity and treat dysfunctional brains. We further address the limitations and challenges of the current methodology and touch on important issues regarding research rigour and clinical viability for translational impact.

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Fig. 1: EEG-connectome concepts and analyses.
Fig. 2: Applying machine learning to EEG connectomes for personalized medicine and biomarker discovery.
Fig. 3: EEG connectome-informed neuromodulation for precision medicine and revealing reproducible network-level biomarkers.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by grants from the US National Institutes of Health (grant numbers RF1-DA056394, R01-MH118928, R01-NS123928, RF1-NS121776, P50-MH132642 and UG3NS135170 to Z.S.C.; and R21-MH130956, R01-MH129694 and R21-AG080425 to Y.Z.), the Alzheimer’s Association (grant number AARG-22-972541 to Y.Z.), and Lehigh University’s FIG (grant number FIGAWD35) and CORE grants to Y.Z. The views, opinions, and findings expressed are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official views or policies of the US Government.

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Author notes

  1. Yu Zhang

    Present address: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Yu Zhang

  2. Department of Bioengineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA

    Yu Zhang

  3. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA

    Yu Zhang

  4. Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Zhe Sage Chen

  5. Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Zhe Sage Chen

  6. Neuroscience Institute, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Zhe Sage Chen

  7. Department of Biomedical Engineering, New York University Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Zhe Sage Chen

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Z.S.C. and Y.Z. conceived this research and wrote the paper; both authors participated in the editing and revisions of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yu Zhang or Zhe Sage Chen.

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Zhang, Y., Chen, Z.S. Harnessing electroencephalography connectomes for cognitive and clinical neuroscience. Nat. Biomed. Eng 9, 1186–1201 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-025-01442-4

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