Analysis of EEG signals using Lyapunov exponents

In this study, a new approach based on the consideration that electroencephalogram (EEG) signals are chaotic signals was presented for automated diagnosis of electroencephalographic changes. This consideration was tested successfully using the nonlinear dynamics tools, like the computation of Lyapunov exponents. Multilayer perceptron neural network (MLPNN) architectures were formulated and used as basis for detection of electroencephalographic changes. Three types of EEG signals (EEG signals recorded from healthy volunteers with eyes open, epilepsy patients in the epileptogenic zone during a seizure-free interval, and epilepsy patients during epileptic seizures) were classified. The computed Lyapunov exponents of the EEG signals were used as inputs of the MLPNNs trained with backpropagation, delta-bar-delta, extended delta-bar-delta, quick propagation, and Levenberg-Marquardt algorithms. The performances of the MLPNN classifiers were evaluated in terms of training performance and classification accuracies. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess the performance of the detection process. The results confirmed that the proposed MLPNN trained with the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm has potentiality in detecting the electroencephalographic changes.