MOST-EEG Guides Inferences: moving knowledge of brain function forward

MOST-EEG Tells The 'Story' of Brain Function

Standard EEG analysis methods as based on an incremental hypothesis testing approach to understanding brain function. Each new study is either a replication of an old study or attempts to provide incremental knowledge by changing, ever so slightly, the parameters of a previous study. By this step-wise, incremental methodology, we derive theoretical models of brain function and try to fit new findings within the context of what is already known. This is done by generating a 'story' about how the brain works in light of prior research and the most current incremental finding. The MOST-EEG methodology improves on standard methods in the area of 'story telling'. It does so by showing how the activities of multiple areas of the brain relate to specific brain activity that is the focus of the current research question.

The Goal Of The MOST-EEG Methodology

The goal of MOST-EEG is to tell the 'story' of brain function, revealing not just those areas of interest by a researcher but describing the activities of the brain area of interest in relation to those activities of other areas of the brain. This has some distinct advantages, including:

(1) guiding inferences to be made in the current study,

(2) guiding new research questions for future studies.

These advantages arise because the MOST-EEG methodology describes the function of the brain as a complete system comprised of many interacting parts. It not only provides an answer to the current research question, but does so within the context of everything else that is happening in the brain.

It is valuable to view the function of the brain as a complete system because it will increase the rate at which we can learn about the brain and reduce the duration of time for which we accept incorrect conclusions about brain function. For example, for many years, it was believed that processing of the brain prior to 150ms after receiving a stimulus was independent of other influences in the brain, such as what someone is thinking when they receive a stimulus. More recently, it is being slowly accepted that sensory area responses to stimuli earlier than 150ms can be affected by high-level brain function. MOST-EEG actually shows the influence of high-level areas on early, low-level processing areas of the brain.

Some related links that illustrate some results of MOST-EEG analysis are as follows: Example automated brain function analysis results calculated using the MOST-EEG brain activity analysis algorithm .