title: Characterization of event related potentials using information theoretic distance measures.
abstract: Analysis of event-related potentials (ERPs) using signal processing tools has become extremely widespread in recent years. Nonstationary signal processing tools such as wavelets and time-frequency distributions have proven to be especially effective in characterizing the transient phenomena encountered in event-related potentials. In this paper, we focus on the analysis of event-related potentials collected during a psychological experiment where two groups of subjects, spider phobics and snake phobics, are shown the same set of stimulus: A blank stimulus, a neutral stimulus and a spider stimulus. We introduce a new approach, based on time-frequency distributions, for analyzing the ERPs. The difference in brain activity before and after a stimulus is presented is quantified using distance measures as adapted to the time-frequency plane. Three different distance measures, including a new information theoretic distance measure, are applied on the time-frequency plane to discriminate between the responses of the two groups of subjects. The results illustrate the effectiveness of using distance measures combined with time-frequency distributions in differentiating between the two classes of subjects and the different regions of the brain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. aviyente@egr.msu.edu
authors.forename: Selin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aviyente
authors.forename: Linda A W
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Brakel
authors.forename: Ramesh K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Kushwaha
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Snodgrass
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shevrin
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D007257:Information Theory; D008959:Models, Neurological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted