Highlights
- •The EEG is one of the most useful technologies for brain research and clinical neurology.
- •The acquired traces are visibly displayed, but various studies investigate the translation of brain waves in sound.
- •The analog EEG was equipped with an auditory output, the pen-on-paper noise made by the writer unit, useful to facilitate the diagnosis of epileptic disorders.
- •Early digital EEG devices could be equipped with special software to duplicate the pen-on-paper noise digitally.
- •Nowadays, auditory neurofeedback has applications in therapeutic interventions, cognitive improvement, and basic research.
Abstract
The electroencephalogram (EEG) is one of the most useful technologies for brain research
and clinical neurology, characterized by non-invasiveness and high time resolution.
The acquired traces are visibly displayed, but various studies investigate the translation
of brain waves in sound (i.e., a process called sonification).
Several articles have been published since 1934 about the sonification of EEG traces,
in the attempt to identify the "brain-sound." However, for a long time this sonification
technique was not used for clinical purposes. The analog EEG was in fact already equipped
with an auditory output, although rarely mentioned in scientific papers: the pen-on-paper
noise made by the writer unit. EEG technologists often relied on the sound that pens
made on paper to facilitate the diagnosis.
This article provides a sample of analog video-EEG recordings with audio support representing
the strengths of a combined visual-and-auditory detection of different types of seizures.
The purpose of the present article is to illustrate how the analog EEG "sounded,"
as well as to highlight the advantages of this pen-writing noise. It was considered
so useful that early digital EEG devices could be equipped with special software to
duplicate it digitally. Even in the present days, the sonification can be considered
as an attempt to modify the EEG practice using auditory neurofeedback with applications
in therapeutic interventions, cognitive improvement, and basic research.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 14, 2023
Accepted:
March 14,
2023
Received in revised form:
March 2,
2023
Received:
December 19,
2022
Footnotes
Contributors are listed in the Acknowledgments
Identification
Copyright
© 2023 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
