Electroencephalography and evoked potentials: a PC-based analysis program for laboratory courses in physiology.

A computer program (EEG Analysis) was developed for the preclinical laboratory course in physiology held for medical and dental students. It offers an off-line analysis of a set of typical and frequently occurring physiological and pathological electroencephalogram (EEG) and evoked potential (EP) recordings, which are stored in an IBM-compatible personal computer (PC) system. The users are requested to measure and analyze the data sets and to work through a base of questions relevant in the frame of the particular topic. The program is structured in several exercises: calibration, pickup of non-EEG signals (eye movements, chewing), waveforms in EEG recordings from awake subjects (alpha-waves, beta-waves), desynchronization of cerebral activity (visual activation, acoustic activation, mental activation), habituation of cerebral activity upon acoustic stimuli, EEG recordings from asleep subjects (different sleep stages, sleep-specific EEG signals), epileptic seizures, and EPs (principle of averaging, visually evoked potentials in different cortical areas). The program runs under MS-DOS and is network capable. The software structure ensures maximal flexibility for rapid changes and adaptations of the program to specific needs of a particular EEG course. The program has been used for three years, and the response from > 800 students has been consistently positive.