Computerized Display of Spatio-Temporal EEG Patterns

A new technique to compute and display the electroencephalogram (EEG) as a spatio-temporal phenomenon is described. In this technique, position on a cathode ray tube is congruent with position in a recording array of electrodes on the head. The potential distribution over the area of the head covered by the array is computed and displayed as a contour map on the face of the tube. Succeeding displays represent distributions at successive instances of time and are photographed by a motion picture camera. The projected film recreates a time history of the potential field. Though this technique has been developed to investigate characteristic patterns of the electroencephalogram, it has application wherever it is necessary to investigate the time course of spatially distributed phenomena.