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Quantitative analysis of EEG signals: Time-frequency methods and ...

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aect the whole spectrum <strong>and</strong> for this reason, in order to avoid spurious eects in the<br />

Fourier spectrum, <strong>signals</strong> must be stationary. This is particularly important in the case<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>EEG</strong> <strong>signals</strong> due to the presence <strong>of</strong> artifacts. Artifacts are alterations (usually <strong>of</strong> high<br />

amplitude) <strong>of</strong> the ongoing <strong>EEG</strong> due to causes not related with the brain activity (e.g.<br />

blinking, head movements, etc.) <strong>and</strong> they give spurious eects in the Fourier spectrum<br />

that can lead to misinterpretations. In the case <strong>of</strong> analyzing background <strong>EEG</strong>s, this<br />

is partially resolved by selecting small \artifact free" segments <strong>of</strong> data, later averaging<br />

the spectrum <strong>of</strong> the selected segments. However, this widely used procedure is very<br />

subjective because it requires the decision <strong>of</strong> what should be considered an appropriate<br />

segment to be analyzed (i.e. which segments are representative <strong>of</strong> the whole <strong>EEG</strong>?).<br />

An easy <strong>and</strong> intuitive way to obtain a time evolution <strong>of</strong> the <strong>frequency</strong> patterns is by<br />

making the Fourier spectrum <strong>of</strong> successive segments (\windows") <strong>of</strong> data, then plotting<br />

them as a function <strong>of</strong> time. This procedure is called the Short <strong>Time</strong> Fourier Transform<br />

or Gabor Transform <strong>and</strong> the plots obtained are called spectograms. The problem <strong>of</strong><br />

stationarity ispartially resolved by taking short windows. Spectograms give an elegant<br />

representation <strong>of</strong> the signal <strong>and</strong> they are suitable for visualizing large scale <strong>frequency</strong><br />

variations (i.e. <strong>of</strong> the order <strong>of</strong> minutes or hours) as for example for studying sleep stages.<br />

However, as I showed in section x3, they are not suitable for analyzing epileptic seizures,<br />

in which the <strong>frequency</strong> patterns change in the order <strong>of</strong> seconds.<br />

In this context, the introduction <strong>of</strong> the b<strong>and</strong> relative intensity ratio (RIR) <strong>and</strong> the<br />

mean <strong>and</strong> maximum b<strong>and</strong> frequencies, allowed a more detailed study <strong>of</strong> the <strong>frequency</strong><br />

behavior during Gr<strong>and</strong> Mal epileptic seizures, as already summarized in section x7.1.1.<br />

Furthermore, with these quantitative parameters it was possible to make a statistical<br />

<strong>analysis</strong> <strong>of</strong> the <strong>frequency</strong> behavior in several scalp recorded seizures. Other interesting<br />

point to mention is that although in scalp recordings <strong>of</strong> Gr<strong>and</strong> Mal seizures muscle<br />

activity obscures completely the <strong>EEG</strong>, it was possible to study the <strong>frequency</strong> patterns<br />

by leaving aside the high <strong>frequency</strong> components related with muscle artifacts, thus<br />

obtaining a very interesting quantitative <strong>frequency</strong> pattern that keeps \hidden" with<br />

the traditional <strong>analysis</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>EEG</strong> recordings.<br />

7.2.2 Gabor Transform vs. Wavelet Transform<br />

Gabor Transform gives an optimal representation <strong>of</strong> the <strong>EEG</strong> in the time-<strong>frequency</strong><br />

domain. However, one critical limitation arises when choosing the size <strong>of</strong> the window to<br />

be applied due to the Uncertainty Principle. If the window is too narrow, the <strong>frequency</strong><br />

resolution will be poor, <strong>and</strong> if the window is too wide, the time localization will be<br />

not so precise. In fact, frequencies can not be resolved instantaneously. Then, for slow<br />

processes a wide window will be necessary <strong>and</strong> for data involving fast processes, a narrow<br />

105

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