Rapid Measures of Brain Activity to Assess Learning Effectiveness

We propose the application of newly developed data processing techniques to ERP time series obtained under laboratory conditions in which subjects are engaged in learning tasks of varying degrees of difficulty. The techniques will enable us to further develop and refine quantitative measures of brain activity associated with knowledge acquisition and the development of skills. We have established the various conditions as described by West (1990). Herein we propose to extend these preliminary studies in such a way as to assess the state of a normal subject in situations with high data flow and requiring rapid decisions. We have designed a set of vigilance experiments from which to obtain the appropriate ERP data base. Existing data will be processed using present techniques and the quantitative measures so obtained will be compared with those resulting from the proposed modifications of those methods. Such questions as the length of the data record, sampling rate, use of mutual information, resolution, stationarity, stability of dimension, etc., will be addressed in Phase I of this program.