fMRI artefact rejection and sleep scoring toolbox.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Biomedical Engineering
• Signal Processing

Background:

• Simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) recordings during sleep are valuable for understanding brain activity.
• Processing this combined data presents challenges, including managing long recordings, removing fMRI artifacts from EEG, and accurate sleep stage scoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the fMRI Artefact Rejection and Sleep Scoring (FAST) toolbox.
• To provide a comprehensive solution for processing sleep EEG-fMRI data.
• To offer tools applicable to broader EEG analysis.

Main Methods:

• Development of a MATLAB-based toolbox (FAST) as an add-on for SPM8.
• Implementation of a graphical user interface (GUI), SPM8 batching, and scripting capabilities.
• Utilizes SPM8-MEEG data format for internal processing.

Main Results:

• FAST efficiently handles data manipulation, fMRI artifact rejection in EEG, and manual sleep scoring.
• The toolbox supports both EEG and magnetoencephalography (MEG) data.
• It offers flexibility through GUI, batching, or scripting.

Conclusions:

• FAST provides an integrated and efficient solution for sleep EEG-fMRI data analysis.
• The toolbox's functionalities are beneficial for various EEG applications, including simultaneous EEG-fMRI and continuous EEG monitoring.
• FAST is freely available, promoting wider adoption in neuroscience research.