FDI: A MATLAB tool for computing the fractal dimension index of sources reconstructed from EEG data

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Computational Neuroscience
• Biophysics

Background:

• Fractal dimension (FD) quantifies neural complexity.
• Fractal Dimension Index (FDI) assesses spatiotemporal complexity in EEG signals.
• Existing FDI methods lack standardization and accessible tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce open-source MATLAB software for calculating FDI from EEG data.
• Provide a standardized and accessible tool for FDI measurement.
• Facilitate wider adoption of FDI in neuroscience research.

Main Methods:

• Developed open-source MATLAB software named FDI.
• Integrated CUDA for GPU acceleration to optimize performance.
• Ensured compatibility with pre-processed data from Brainstorm and EEGLab.

Main Results:

• The FDI software efficiently processes large-scale EEG data.
• Demonstrated FDI applicability in two neuroimaging studies.
• Provided free access to MATLAB source code and a Windows executable.

Conclusions:

• Neuroscientists can now readily apply FDI to investigate cortical activity complexity.
• The software promotes standardized FDI analysis in research.
• Facilitates deeper understanding of brain activity complexity.