The Electroencephalogram

Although the electroencephalogram - discovered more than a century ago -
has been used for years as a non-invasive diagnostic tool, it is still poorly
understood. In this book, John Barlow describes an ingenious new hypothesis for a
comprehensive model of the EEG that is able to emulate a large variety of known EEG
patterns with few variables.In contrast to previous hypotheses and models which have
treated only selected EEG patterns (rhythmic activity such as alpha activity and
sleep spindles seen largely as "filtered noise," or irregular activity, or certain
types of epileptiform activity such as spikes) this approach, which is based on an
oscillator with two separate input modulations of the extremes and the slopes of
waves, covers all types of EEG patterns, and stems from specific features of the EEG
itself rather than from arbitrary signals.Barlow describes the hypothesis in detail,
then tests predictions for normal and abnormal EEGs with the aid of a hardware model
and with specially developed methods of analysis. The hypothesis is further
evaluated in the light of extensive reviews of other EEG models and methods of
analysis and of the underlying anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology of cerebral
electrical activity. A technological section details the hardware model and the
methodology for testing the hypothesis. Appendixes present some new approaches to
traditional methods of EEG analysis and artifact minimization, areas in which Barlow
has achieved international recognition.John S. Barlow, M.D., is a Neurophysiologist
in the Neurology Service at Massachusetts General Hospital, Senior Research
Associate in Neurology (Neurophysiology) at Harvard Medical School, and a Research
Affiliate in the Research Laboratory of Electronics at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology.