title: Single-channel in-ear-EEG detects the focus of auditory attention to concurrent tone streams and mixed speech.
abstract: Conventional, multi-channel scalp electroencephalography (EEG) allows the identification of the attended speaker in concurrent-listening ('cocktail party') scenarios. This implies that EEG might provide valuable information to complement hearing aids with some form of EEG and to install a level of neuro-feedback.
  
  
  
  To investigate whether a listener's attentional focus can be detected from single-channel hearing-aid-compatible EEG configurations, we recorded EEG from three electrodes inside the ear canal ('in-Ear-EEG') and additionally from 64 electrodes on the scalp. In two different, concurrent listening tasks, participants (n  =  7) were fitted with individualized in-Ear-EEG pieces and were either asked to attend to one of two dichotically-presented, concurrent tone streams or to one of two diotically-presented, concurrent audiobooks. A forward encoding model was trained to predict the EEG response at single EEG channels.
  
  
  
  Each individual participants' attentional focus could be detected from single-channel EEG response recorded from short-distance configurations consisting only of a single in-Ear-EEG electrode and an adjacent scalp-EEG electrode. The differences in neural responses to attended and ignored stimuli were consistent in morphology (i.e. polarity and latency of components) across subjects.
  
  
  
  In sum, our findings show that the EEG response from a single-channel, hearing-aid-compatible configuration provides valuable information to identify a listener's focus of attention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany. Max Planck Research Group 'Auditory Cognition', Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Lorenz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fiedler
authors.forename: Malte
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wöstmann
authors.forename: Carina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Graversen
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brandmeyer
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lunner
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Obleser
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D046709:Pattern Recognition, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D010898:Pitch Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013068:Speech Production Measurement / Q000379:methods*