EEG topography recognition by neural networks.

Electroencephalography (EEG) pattern-recognition studies were carried out using EEG topography (readiness potential, or RP, spatiotemporal patterns) generated the moment before voluntary movements of muscles. RPs generated prior to pronouncing syllables and controlling a joystick were studied by experiments and simulation. The spatiotemporal patterns of RPs were measured by multichannel surface electrodes pasted on the subject's scalp. Backpropagation neural networks were used for RP pattern recognition. The results show that RPs generated prior to syllable pronouncement contain some information about those syllables, and that RPs generated prior to joy stick movements contain information on the direction of intended movement. They also show that neural networks can be used to recognize EEG information and so create a new type of man-machine interface for data input.