Analysis of Brain Signal Generation for EEG

Abstract

• The overall goal of the WUSTL-BCI project is to have a brain-controlled interface (BCI) by means of a non-invasive electroencephalogram (EEG). The interface would then be used to control a hand exoskeleton for aiding in the rehabilitation of hand motor skills in people who suffer from severe motor impairment. However, the scope of BCIs is not limited to controlling the hand exoskeleton. It can be applied to just about any system that a person could otherwise control—personal computers, cars, and cell phones, just to scratch the surface. The purpose of this sub-project is to determine reliable methods of generating clear, consistent brain signals through voluntary muscle movement and motor imagery. We hope to generate enough empirical data to lay down the foundation for a targeted survey that will better test the results from our smaller scale experiments.

Goals

• The current goal for the 2D-Control project is identifying the types of physical movements that generate the best signals for the EEG. These brain signals are the basis for the project, and without a functional understanding of how they work and how to generate a clean, consistent, and coherent signal, progress for any of the sub-projects would be extremely difficult.

Equipment and Program

• For our experiments, a specialized EEG headset (Emotiv® EPOC Neuroheadset) is used. To transport and to analyze EEG signal data into the computer, Emotiv® Control Panel, BCI 2000® Cursor Task, BCI 2000® StimPresentation, and BCI 2000® Offline Analysis were used.
  • For a more indepth view at our equipment setup go here

Experimental Design and Hypotheses

Experiment 1 (Cursor Task)

• This is the first experiment Tom and DoHyun Kim performed. Without deep understanding of EEG signals, we chose several movements (Shoulder Rotation, Ankle Tapping, and Wrist Twisting). This was mostly an EEG signal training period for both of us.

Experiment 1 (Cursor Task) // Average of 100 Trials // Failed

Movement	Highest Signal on Channel (#)	Magnitude of the Highest Signal(r^2 Value)	at Frequency (Hz)	Other Notable Signals on Channel (#)
Shoulder Rotation (DoHyun)	3	6.3*10^-3	26-28	5,10,14
Shoulder Rotation (Tom)	7	.06	10-12	-
Ankle Tapping (DoHyun)	14	9.6*10^-3	22-24	7
Ankle Tapping (Tom)	8	.012	20-22	9
Wrist Twisting (DoHyun)	1	16*10^-3	24-30	-
Wrist Twisting (Tom)	1	.12	20-24	3

Experiment 2 (LR StimPresentation)

• The first LR StimPresentation experiment was for understanding general EEG signal properties of body movements. We performed EEG data collections for Finger Movements, Bicep Curling (with different velocity & force generated), Tongue Movements, Bicep Lifting, Fist Squeezing (both for passive and active force), Wrist Twisting, Wrist Holding, Wrist Rotation with Open Hand, and Wrist Rotation with Closed Fist. This series of EEG data collection gives us insight of possible hypothesis of our experiments.

Experiment 3 (Constant Action vs. Repetitive Action)

• This experiment was designed for determining whether Constant Holding will generate stronger R2 value than Repetitive Action for specific motion. Connecting Left hand Fingers and Wrist Twisting were performed for this test.

Experiment 4 (Few Large Muscles vs. Many Small Muscles)

• This experiment was designed for determining whether EEG signals for Few Large Muscles will generate stronger R2 value than EEG signals for Many Small Muscles. Tom performed a StimPresentation test for comparing his EEG signals of Quad Muscle Contraction and Fist Squeezing.

Experiment 5 (Imaginary Action vs. Actual Action)

• This experiment is designed to explore the possibilities of using imaginary action generated EEG signals in real-time data acquisition. EEG data for Actual & Imaginary Bicep Curling and Fist Squeezing, EEG signal data for Imaginary 2D Ball Control, and EEG signal data for Visually Stimulated Imaginations were collected.

Experiment 6 (Eye Movements)

• This experiment was more likely an artifact test for Eye Movements. 2D Slow Eye Movements and Saccade Movements were performed for collecting EMG/EEG signals.

Experiment 7 (Trained Muscle Movement vs. Untrained Muscle Movement)

• There were significant differences in EEG data R2 values for Left vs. Right movements in Experiment 2. We made a hypothesis that motions for undeveloped side of brain or muscles will generate higher EEG data R2 values. In this experiment, we wrote specific letter (it was a mirror-imaged Korean word that Tom and I never wrote before) for collecting EEG signal data.

Experiment 8 (Directional Movements)

• reference

• From the Quantitative Physiology class, BME 301A, DoHyun Kim learned about directional properties of the ECoG signals inM1 sites. We tested arm movements with different directionality to confirm whether EEG signals also have directional properties for movements.

Results

• The results for our experiments can be found here: Experimental Results

Future

• In the immediate future, the 2D control group looks to continue the task of learning how to generate good data. We will continue to test our aforementioned hypotheses and potential new ones that arise, but as this fundamental question of how to generate good data starts to have a more definite answer, the group will move on to identifying two independent signals and implementing algorithms to add a second degree of control to the project.

References

• Anderson R Nicholas, Electrocorticographic Neural Correlates of Arm Movements and Associated GoalOrientation in Humans [1]
• Schalk, G.; McFarland, D.J.; Hinterberger, T.; Birbaumer, N; Wolpaw, J.R. BCI2000: A General Purpose Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) System. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 51, 6, 1034-1043 (2004)
• Wolpaw, J.R.; Birbaumer, N.; MacFarland, D.J.; Pfurtscheller, G.; Vaughn, T.M. Brain-computer interfaces for communication and control. Clinical Neurophysiology, 113, 767-791 (2002)
• Wolpaw, J. R.; McFarland, D. J. Control of a two-dimensional movement signal by a noninvasive brain-computer interface in humans. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 101, 17849–17854 (2004)
• “Wet Electrodes Placement” is adopted from: Washington University in St. Louis, BME301A Physical Lab Manual 3: Sensory Stimuli and the Electroencephalogram (EEG). [2]