Computational testing for automated preprocessing: a matlab toolbox for better electroencephalography data processing

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1 BrainWork Research Centre, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland
2 Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
DOI
10.7287/peerj.preprints.2140v1
Published
Accepted
Subject Areas
Bioinformatics, Brain-Computer Interface
Keywords
computation, testing, automation, preprocessing, EEGLAB, electroencephalography, signal processing
Copyright
© 2016 Cowley et al.
Licence
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Cite this article
Cowley B, Korpela J, Torniainen J. 2016. Computational testing for automated preprocessing: a matlab toolbox for better electroencephalography data processing. PeerJ Preprints 4:e2140v1

Abstract

EEG is a rich source of information regarding brain functioning, and is the most lightweight and affordable method of brain imaging. However, the pre-processing of EEG data is quite complicated and most existing tools present the experimenter with a large choice of methods for analysis, but no framework for method comparison to choose an optimal approach. Additionally, many tools still require a high degree of manual decision making for, e.g. the classification of artefacts in channels, epochs or segments. This introduces excessive subjectivity, is slow, and is not reproducible. Batching and well-designed automation can help to regularise EEG preprocessing, and thus minimise human effort, subjectivity, and consequent error. The Computational Testing for Automated Preprocessing (CTAP) toolbox facilitates: i) batch processing that is easy for experts and novices alike; ii) testing and comparison of automated methods. CTAP uses the existing data structure and functions from the well-known EEGLAB tool, based on Matlab, and produces extensive quality control outputs.

Author Comment

This is a submission to PeerJ Computer Science for review.