EEG Microstates - Frames of the Mind - Lat Brain Bee SfN 2025

Consciousness in First Person

I am Consciousness in motion. I do not move in continuous lines but in rapid frames, as if each instant were an electrical photograph that organizes me. In less than a tenth of a second, I shift patterns, rearrange my fields, and perceive the world differently. EEG calls these instants microstates; I feel them as flashes that sustain my presence, as if my mind were built of sequential frames projected in real time.

1. What are EEG Microstates?

• Microstates are stable spatial patterns of brain electrical activity lasting 60–120 milliseconds.
  
  

• They are considered the “atoms of thought”: minimal units which, chained together, produce perception and consciousness.
  
  

• Each microstate represents a configuration of neural networks working together.
  
  

• The brain alternates between 4 to 7 main microstates, repeating them in sequences that sustain cognitive dynamics.
  
  

2. Microstates as Frames of the Mind

• A simple analogy: microstates are like frames of a film or video game.
  
  

• Each frame is stable for a few milliseconds and, when it changes, creates the sensation of continuous flow.
  
  

• Consciousness is thus not an indivisible stream but a structured succession of electrical frames.
  
  

• This explains how we can rapidly alternate between auditory, visual, and emotional stimuli without losing coherence.
  
  

3. Cognitive Functions Associated

Recent studies show that specific microstates link to distinct functions:

• Microstate A → Auditory processing.
  
  

• Microstate B → Visual processing.
  
  

• Microstate C → Attentional/executive control.
  
  

• Microstate D → Default Mode Network (self-referential thought).
  
  

This mapping reveals that consciousness oscillates between specialized states, never fixed in only one.

4. Games, Social Media, and the Manipulation of Microstates

• Games and social media can induce rapid transitions between microstates:
  
  

• Unexpected sounds → prolong auditory microstates.
  
  

• Bright colors and flashes → intensify visual microstates.
  
  

• Uncertain rewards → activate attentional microstates.
  
  

• This constant bombardment generates a pattern of cognitive hyper-fragmentation, where the mind is dragged frame by frame without enough time for deep integration.
  
  

5. Transversal Frame – The 72h Loop (applied to Microstates)

Critical Summary: Microstates show how each emotion can reorganize the frames of the mind. Digital platforms exploit this plasticity to keep users trapped in repetitive cycles lasting up to 72 hours.

6. Critical Conclusion

Microstates reveal that consciousness is composed of electrical fragments unfolding at high speed. Far from being continuous, it is a dynamic mosaic that creates the illusion of stable flow.

Games and social media exploit this property, imposing rapid sequences of stimuli that fragment microstates even further and reduce integration space. This facilitates attentional capture and increases the risk of Anergia: electrical frames that fail to metabolize into expression, leaving behind fatigue or aversive memories.

Recognizing microstates is to recognize that the mind is not linear — and that learning to pause and integrate these frames is essential to balance emotion, attention, and belonging.

References

• Michel, C. M., & Koenig, T. (2020). EEG microstates as windows into the temporal dynamics of the brain. Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
  
  

• Zanesco, A. P. (2021). Cognitive training and EEG microstates: Evidence for neuroplasticity. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
  
  

• Britz, J., Van De Ville, D., & Michel, C. M. (2021). BOLD correlates of EEG microstates in resting state. NeuroImage.
  
  

• Damborská, A., et al. (2022). Alterations of EEG microstates in depression and anxiety disorders. Biological Psychology.