3 ms·

EEG is a fundamentally noisy and low bandwidth measurement of neural activity. I work with neural recordings based on intracortical electrodes with resolution

EEG is a fundamentally noisy and low bandwidth measurement of neural activity. I work with neural recordings based on intracortical electrodes with resolution of single neurons. I think of EEG as analogous to listening to an orchestra from outside the building. You may hear that there's a bit more brass than strings, and you might get some sense of the overall sound level, but you won't really be hearing the music. To strain this analogy, any time you move your facial muscles, it's like a truck driving by swamping everything out.

cinquemb 12y ago
I work in a lab with EEG and FMRI primarily writing software for neural feedback which involves a lot dsp and physics, and considering that spike timing is a predominant theory in (comp)neuroscience today (and has been for nearly 40 years, yet no more fundamental understanding… go figure…), I think it would be an understatement to say that the level mathematical and physics rigor/theory applied by most people in the field is considerably lacking… if not a joke compared to what physicists/astrophysicists have had to deal with and have proven by experimentation in much nosier environments in the same time frame. I really see the field bifurcating with people doing more of the same, and those who want to import experience of modern physics…
- shas3 12y ago
  I am aware of theoretical physicists applying statistical mechanical principles to understand neurons and biological neural networks (one example: [1]). This is a reasonably hot topic in bio-physics. I am also aware of researchers who are applying state of the art high-dimensional data analysis to MRI, etc. (one example: [2]). I would modify your assertion to: "this kind of application of high-level physics and math should be more common." [1] https://web.stanford.edu/dept/app-physics/cgi-bin/person/surya-gangulijanuary-2012/ https://web.stanford.edu/dept/app-physics/cgi-bin/person/sur... [2] http://jelena.ece.cmu.edu/bimagic.html http://jelena.ece.cmu.edu/bimagic.html
  - cinquemb 12y ago
    That is certainly a more diplomatic way of putting it, and I will try to use such language in the future because its probably a lot more conductive in exploring such with those who are interested but reluctant.

cinquemb 12y ago

I work in a lab with EEG and FMRI primarily writing software for neural feedback which involves a lot dsp and physics, and considering that spike timing is a predominant theory in (comp)neuroscience today (and has been for nearly 40 years, yet no more fundamental understanding… go figure…), I think it would be an understatement to say that the level mathematical and physics rigor/theory applied by most people in the field is considerably lacking… if not a joke compared to what physicists/astrophysicists have had to deal with and have proven by experimentation in much nosier environments in the same time frame. I really see the field bifurcating with people doing more of the same, and those who want to import experience of modern physics…

shas3 12y ago
I am aware of theoretical physicists applying statistical mechanical principles to understand neurons and biological neural networks (one example: [1]). This is a reasonably hot topic in bio-physics. I am also aware of researchers who are applying state of the art high-dimensional data analysis to MRI, etc. (one example: [2]). I would modify your assertion to: "this kind of application of high-level physics and math should be more common." [1] https://web.stanford.edu/dept/app-physics/cgi-bin/person/surya-gangulijanuary-2012/ https://web.stanford.edu/dept/app-physics/cgi-bin/person/sur... [2] http://jelena.ece.cmu.edu/bimagic.html http://jelena.ece.cmu.edu/bimagic.html
- cinquemb 12y ago
  That is certainly a more diplomatic way of putting it, and I will try to use such language in the future because its probably a lot more conductive in exploring such with those who are interested but reluctant.