Preregistered Evaluation of a Ratio-Based Neural Coherence Metric During Insight Events

This document constitutes a Stage 1 preregistration for the empirical evaluation of a ratio-based neural coherence metric defined as: where wPLI (weighted Phase Lag Index) serves as a proxy for phase integration and broadband power (1–40 Hz) serves as a proxy for signal magnitude. The metric was previously validated on synthetic ground-truth data to demonstrate recoverability of injected optima under defined signal-to-noise conditions. The present preregistration specifies, in advance of analysis, the hypotheses, preprocessing pipeline, calibration strategy, statistical tests, exclusion criteria, and falsification conditions for application to human EEG data during insight problem-solving tasks. Primary hypothesis: The coherence ratio � will exhibit a statistically significant event-locked local maximum within ±2 seconds of self-reported insight (“Aha”) events relative to matched control epochs. This document freezes all analytic decisions prior to biological testing. It does not assume the existence of a specific optimal value in neural systems and makes no claims regarding physical interpretation of the proxies. Failure to detect the predicted peak will be interpreted as non-support for the metric under the tested conditions. This preregistration is linked to the publicly archived instrument validation report (Zenodo DOI: [insert DOI]).