Phase Locking Value
Calculate PLV as the magnitude of the mean unit phasor for supplied paired phase differences in radians. No phase extraction, filtering, or bias correction is performed.
Description
Phase-locking value summarizes consistency of paired phase differences through their mean unit phasor.
Phase-locking value summarizes consistency of paired phase differences through their mean unit phasor. Constant differences give maximal consistency even when the offset is nonzero.1
Calculate PLV as the magnitude of the mean unit phasor for supplied paired phase differences in radians. No phase extraction, filtering, or bias correction is performed.
When to use Phase Locking Value
Use this tool to calculate PLV as the magnitude of the mean unit phasor for supplied paired phase differences in radians. No phase extraction, filtering, or bias correction is performed.
Prepare the task-specific rates, comparable response-time means, identified spike train, processed ERP or estimated spectra requested. Confirm units, preprocessing, sample pairing and caller-fitted model coefficients.
How to use Phase Locking Value and understand its results
- Prepare the task-specific rates, comparable response-time means, identified spike train, processed ERP or estimated spectra requested. Confirm units, preprocessing, sample pairing and caller-fitted model coefficients.
- Enter phaseDifferencesRad using the field table and calculation rules, then run the tool.
- Read plv. The explanation below defines the units, signs, ordering and any flags or placeholder values.
- If the tool reports an input issue, correct the values and run it again. Apply the stated assumptions when interpreting a successfully returned result.
| Input field | Meaning | Value type; see rules below | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| phaseDifferencesRad | Paired phase differences in radians. (rad) | list of number; minimum entries: 1; maximum entries: 100000 | Required |
Enter one through 100,000 finite phase differences in radians. Average cosines and sines, use hypot for magnitude and cap floating-point overshoot at one. Return a dimensionless value in 0–1.
PLV=|mean(exp(i×phaseDifference))| Units, indexing, boundary conditions and exceptional cases are defined in the calculation rules above.
| Output field | Meaning | Value type |
|---|---|---|
| plv | Magnitude of the mean phase-difference phasor. | number; minimum: 0; maximum: 1 |
{
"input": {
"phaseDifferencesRad": [
0,
1.5707963267948966
]
},
"output": {
"plv": 0.7071067811865476
}
}Limitations and assumptions
No filtering, Hilbert transform, pairing, phase extraction or bias correction is performed. A single difference gives one; PLV is not evidence of causal coupling.
Numeric inputs must be finite. Follow the calculation-specific rules for overflow, underflow and exceptional cases. Missing required fields, extra fields, wrong value types and violations of the calculation rules are input errors.
Alternative or Complementary methods
Use EEG Magnitude Squared Coherence: Calculate magnitude-squared coherence at one frequency as |Pxy|²/(Pxx × Pyy) from caller-estimated auto and cross spectra. The spectra must use the same units and estimator; no FFT or averaging is performed. For a complementary task, use EEG Alpha Band Power: Integrate supplied uniform PSD bins by sum(PSD × binWidth), selecting centers in [8, 12) Hz under the MNE band convention. The upper endpoint is excluded and unprovided frequencies contribute no power; no FFT or clinical interpretation is performed.
References
-
Phase Locking Value — tool.io
Similar or alternative tools
- EEG Magnitude Squared Coherence
Calculate magnitude-squared coherence at one frequency as |Pxy|²/(Pxx × Pyy) from caller-estimated auto and cross spectra. The spectra must use the same units and estimator; no FFT or averaging is performed.
- EEG Alpha Band Power
Integrate supplied uniform PSD bins by sum(PSD × binWidth), selecting centers in [8, 12) Hz under the MNE band convention. The upper endpoint is excluded and unprovided frequencies contribute no power; no FFT or clinical interpretation is performed.