Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Applications of EEG Neuroimaging Data: Event-related Potentials, Spectral Power, and Multiscale Entropy
Published on: June 27, 2013
Approximate entropy as a measure of irregularity for psychiatric serial metrics
1stevepincus@alum.mit.edu
Objectives:
The quantification of subtle patterns in sequential data, and their changes, has considerable potential utility throughout psychiatry, including the analyses of mood ratings, heart rate, respiratory, and electroencephalographic recordings.
Methods:
Approximate entropy (ApEn), a relatively recently developed statistic quantifying serial irregularity, has been applied in numerous studies throughout mathematics and other fields of study, especially biology.
Results:
We discussed applications of ApEn, both extant and potential, of most relevance to psychiatrists. We provided a mechanistic interpretation of lowered ApEn values, and discusses the relationship between ApEn and other (both classical and complexity) measures of serial dynamics. We also briefly discussed cross-ApEn, a thematically similar quantification of two-variable asynchrony that can aid in uncovering subtle disruptions in complicated network dynamics.
Conclusions:
ApEn and cross-ApEn have significant potential to consequentially enhance present statistical methodologies of analysis of psychiatric data, in both clinical and in research settings.
More Related Videos
08:08Using Wavelet Entropy to Demonstrate how Mindfulness Practice Increases Coordination between Irregular Cerebral and Cardiac Activities
Published on: May 10, 2017
13:08Measurement of Fronto-limbic Activity Using an Emotional Oddball Task in Children with Familial High Risk for Schizophrenia
Published on: December 2, 2015
Related Concept Videos
Entropy
Variation: Normal Distribution, Range, and Standard Deviation
Random Error
Variability: Analysis
The range is a simple measure of variability, indicating the difference between the highest and...
Unusual Results
According to the range rule of thumb, any value above or below two standard deviations, 2σ from the mean, μ is considered unusual.
Maximum unusual value = μ + 2σ
Minimum unusual value...
Statistical Analysis: Overview
One of the most commonly used statistical quantifiers is the mean, which is the ratio between the sum of the numerical values of all results and the...