Epileptic EEG: A comprehensive study of nonlinear behavior

Abstract

In this study, the nonlinear properties of the electroencephalograph (EEG) signals are investigated by comparing two sets of EEG, one set for epileptic and another set for healthy brain activities. Adopting measures of nonlinear theory such as Lyapunov exponent, correlation dimension, Hurst exponent, fractal dimension, and Kolmogorov entropy, the chaotic behavior of these two sets is quantitatively computed. The statistics for the two groups of all measures demonstrate the differences between the normal healthy group and epileptic one. The statistical results along with phase-space diagram verify that brain under epileptic seizures possess limited trajectory in the state space than in healthy normal state, consequently behaves less chaotically compared to normal condition. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.