cortex,was not formulated until 1949 when Moruzzi and Magoun demonstrated the existence of widely spread pathways through the central reticular core of the brainstem capable of exerting a diffuse activating influence on the cerebral cortex. This reticular activating system has been called the brain s response selector because it alerts the cortex to focus on certain incoming information while ignoring other. It is for this reason that a sleeping mother will immediately be awakened by her crying baby or the smell of smoke, and yet ignore the traffic outside her window or the television still playing in the next room. An in-depth discussion of these early studies is beyond the scope of this presentation; however, for the interested reader an excellent historical review of this early era in brain research has been recorded in a fascinating text by Brazier [1968 EEG Recording TechI eques Scalp recordings of spontaneous neuronal activity in the brain, identified as the EeG, allow measurement of potential changes over time between a signal electrode and a reference electrode[ Kondraski, 1986]. Compared to other biopotentials, such as the electrocardiogram, the EEG is extremely difficult for an untrained observer to interpret. As might be expected, partially as a result of the spatial mapping of functions onto different regions of the brain, correspondingly different waveforms are visible, depending on electrode placement. Recognizing that some standardizati vas necessary for comparison of research as well as clinical EEG records, the International Federation in Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology adopted the 10-20 electrode placement system, [Jasper, 1958]. Additional electrodes to monitor extracerebral contaminants of the EEG such as eye movement, EKG, and muscle activity are essential. The acquisition of EEG for quantitative analysis should also require the ability to view the EEG during collection on a polygraph or high-resolution video display Since amplification, filtering, and digitization determine the frequency characteristics of the EEG and the source of potential artifacts, the acquisition parameters must be chosen with an understanding of their effects on signal acquisition and subsequent analysis. Amplification, for example, increases the amplitude range(volts) of the analog-to-digital (A/D)converter. The resolution of the A/D converter is determined by the smallest plitude of steps that can be sampled. This is calculated by dividing the voltage range of the A/D converter by 2 to the power of the number of bits of the A/D converter. For example, an A/D converter with a range of +5 V with 12-bit resolution can resolve samples as small as #2. 4 mV. Appropriate matching of amplification and A/D converter sensitivity permits resolution of the smallest signal while preventing clipping of the largest ignal amplitudes. The bandwidth of the filters and the rate of digitization determine the frequency components of interest that are passed, while other frequencies outside the band of interest that may represent potential artifacts, such as aliasing, are rejected. A filter's characteristics are determined by the rate of the amplitude decrease at the bandwidths upper and lower edges. Proper digital representation of the analog signal depends on the rate of data sampling, which is governed by the Nyquist theorem that states that data sampling should be at least twice the highest frequency of interest. In addition to the information available from spontaneous electrical activity of the EEG, the brains electrical response to sensory stimulation can contribute data as to the status of cortical and subcortical regions activate by sensory input. Due to the relatively small amplitude of a stimulus-evoked potential as compared to the spontaneous EEG potentials, the technique of signal averaging is used to enhance the stimulus-evoked respo Stimulus averaging takes advantage of the fact that the brains electrical response is time-locked to the onset of the stimulus and the nonevoked background potentials are randomly distributed in time. Consequently, the average of multiple stimulus responses will result in the enhancement of the time-locked activity, while the averaged random background activity will approach zero. The result is an evoked response that consists of a lumber of discrete and replicable peaks that occur, depending upon the stimulus and the recording parameters, at predicted latencies from the onset of stimulation. The spatial localization of maximum peak amplitudes has been associated with cortical generators in y sensory cortex. Instrumentation required for EEG recordings can be simple or elaborate[Kondraski, 1986].(Note: Although the discussion presented in this section is for a single-channel system it can be extended to simultaneous multichannel recordings simply by multiplying the hardware by the number of channels required In cases that do not require true simultaneous recordings, special electrode selector panels can minimize hardware require- ments)Any EEG system consists of electrodes, amplifiers(with appropriate filters)and a recording device c2000 by CRC Press LLC© 2000 by CRC Press LLC cortex, was not formulated until 1949 when Moruzzi and Magoun demonstrated the existence of widely spread pathways through the central reticular core of the brainstem capable of exerting a diffuse activating influence on the cerebral cortex. This reticular activating system has been called the brain’s response selector because it alerts the cortex to focus on certain incoming information while ignoring other. It is for this reason that a sleeping mother will immediately be awakened by her crying baby or the smell of smoke, and yet ignore the traffic outside her window or the television still playing in the next room. An in-depth discussion of these early studies is beyond the scope of this presentation; however, for the interested reader an excellent historical review of this early era in brain research has been recorded in a fascinating text by Brazier [1968]. EEG Recording Techniques Scalp recordings of spontaneous neuronal activity in the brain, identified as the EEG, allow measurement of potential changes over time between a signal electrode and a reference electrode [Kondraski, 1986]. Compared to other biopotentials, such as the electrocardiogram, the EEG is extremely difficult for an untrained observer to interpret. As might be expected, partially as a result of the spatial mapping of functions onto different regions of the brain, correspondingly different waveforms are visible, depending on electrode placement. Recognizing that some standardization was necessary for comparison of research as well as clinical EEG records, the International Federation in Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology adopted the 10–20 electrode placement system, [Jasper, 1958]. Additional electrodes to monitor extracerebral contaminants of the EEG such as eye movement, EKG, and muscle activity are essential. The acquisition of EEG for quantitative analysis should also require the ability to view the EEG during collection on a polygraph or high-resolution video display. Since amplification, filtering, and digitization determine the frequency characteristics of the EEG and the source of potential artifacts, the acquisition parameters must be chosen with an understanding of their effects on signal acquisition and subsequent analysis. Amplification, for example, increases the amplitude range (volts) of the analog-to-digital (A/D) converter. The resolution of the A/D converter is determined by the smallest amplitude of steps that can be sampled. This is calculated by dividing the voltage range of the A/D converter by 2 to the power of the number of bits of the A/D converter. For example, an A/D converter with a range of ±5 V with 12-bit resolution can resolve samples as small as ±2.4 mV. Appropriate matching of amplification and A/D converter sensitivity permits resolution of the smallest signal while preventing clipping of the largest signal amplitudes. The bandwidth of the filters and the rate of digitization determine the frequency components of interest that are passed, while other frequencies outside the band of interest that may represent potential artifacts, such as aliasing, are rejected. A filter’s characteristics are determined by the rate of the amplitude decrease at the bandwidth’s upper and lower edges. Proper digital representation of the analog signal depends on the rate of data sampling, which is governed by the Nyquist theorem that states that data sampling should be at least twice the highest frequency of interest. In addition to the information available from spontaneous electrical activity of the EEG, the brain’s electrical response to sensory stimulation can contribute data as to the status of cortical and subcortical regions activated by sensory input. Due to the relatively small amplitude of a stimulus-evoked potential as compared to the spontaneous EEG potentials, the technique of signal averaging is used to enhance the stimulus-evoked response. Stimulus averaging takes advantage of the fact that the brain’s electrical response is time-locked to the onset of the stimulus and the nonevoked background potentials are randomly distributed in time. Consequently, the average of multiple stimulus responses will result in the enhancement of the time-locked activity, while the averaged random background activity will approach zero. The result is an evoked response that consists of a number of discrete and replicable peaks that occur, depending upon the stimulus and the recording parameters, at predicted latencies from the onset of stimulation. The spatial localization of maximum peak amplitudes has been associated with cortical generators in primary sensory cortex. Instrumentation required for EEG recordings can be simple or elaborate [Kondraski, 1986]. (Note: Although the discussion presented in this section is for a single-channel system it can be extended to simultaneous multichannel recordings simply by multiplying the hardware by the number of channels required. In cases that do not require true simultaneous recordings, special electrode selector panels can minimize hardware require￾ments.) Any EEG system consists of electrodes, amplifiers (with appropriate filters) and a recording device