Learning Recurrent Waveforms Within EEGs

Goal: We demonstrate an algorithm to automatically learn the time-limited waveforms associated with phasic events that repeatedly appear throughout an electroencephalogram. Methods: To learn the phasic event waveforms we propose a multiscale modeling process that is based on existing shift-invariant dictionary learning algorithms. For each channel, waveforms at different temporal scales are learned based on the assumption that only a few waveforms occur in any window of the time-series, but the same waveforms reoccur throughout the signal. Once the waveforms are learned, the timing and amplitude of the phasic event occurrences are estimated using matching pursuit. To summarize the waveforms learned across multiple channels and subjects, we analyze their frequency content, their similarity to Gabor-Morlet wavelets, and perform shift-invariant k-means to cluster the waveforms. A prototype waveform from each cluster is then tested for differential spatial patterns between different motor imagery conditions. Results: On multiple human EEG datasets, the learned waveforms capture key characteristics of signals they were trained to represent, with a consistency in waveform morphology and frequency content across multiple training sections and initializations. On multichannel datasets, the spatial amplitude patterns of the waveforms are also consistent and can be used to distinguish different modalities of motor imagery. Conclusion: We explored a methodology that can be used for modeling the recurrent waveforms in EEG traces. Significance: The methodology automatically identifies the most frequent phasic event waveforms in EEG, which could then be used as features for automatic evaluation and comparison of EEG during sleep, pathology, or mentally engaging tasks.