RAPID MEASURES OF BRAIN ACTIVITY TO ASSESS WAKEFUL ATTENTIVENESS

WE PROPOSE THE APPLICATION OF A NEWLY DEVELOPED DATA PROCESSING TECHNIQUE TO EEG TIME SERIES. THIS TECHNIQUE WILL ALLOW US TO DEVELOP QUANTITATIVE MEASURES OF BRAIN ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH WAKEFUL ATTENTIVENESS. THESE MEASURES ARE THE FRACTAL DIMENSION AND THE INFORMATION ENTROPY BOTH OF WHICH HAVE BEEN CLOSELY CORRELATED WITH CERTAIN EXTREME BEHAVIORS, I.E., EPILEPTIC SEIZURES. HEREIN WE PROPOSE TO EXTEND THESE PRELIMINARY STUDIES IN SUCH A WAY AS TO ACCESS THE STATE OF A NORMAL SUBJECT IN SITUATIONS WITH HIGH DATA FLOW AND REQUIRING RAPID DECISIONS. THE VIABILITY OF THESE MEASURES WILL BE DETERMINED IN PHASE I.