An Improved EEG Acquisition Protocol Facilitates Localized Neural Activation

This work proposes improvements in the electroencephalogram (EEG) recording protocols for motor imagery through the introduction of actual motor movement and/or somatosensory cues. The results obtained demonstrate the advantage of requiring the subjects to perform motor actions following the trials of imagery. By introducing motor actions in the protocol, the subjects are able to perform actual motor planning, rather than just visualizing the motor movement, thus greatly improving the ease with which the motor movements can be imagined. This study also probes the added advantage of administering somatosensory cues in the subject, as opposed to the conventional auditory/visual cues. These changes in the protocol show promise in terms of the aptness of the spatial filters obtained on the data, on application of the well-known common spatial pattern (CSP) algorithms. The regions highlighted by the spatial filters are more localized and consistent across the subjects when the protocol is augmented with somatosensory stimuli. Hence, we suggest that this may prove to be a better EEG acquisition protocol for detecting brain activation in response to intended motor commands in (clinically) paralyzed/locked-in patients.