The End Of Knowledge - Vault 3 - G.TEC BCI & Neurotechnology Spring School 2024 - Day 4 - Leo Schreiner (AT), Marco Fummo (IT), Susanna Essl (AT)

graph LR classDef equipment fill:#f9d4d4,stroke-width:2px classDef experiments fill:#d4f9d4,stroke-width:2px classDef results fill:#d4d4f9,stroke-width:2px classDef future fill:#f9f9d4,stroke-width:2px A[Recording EEG from animals] --> B[Wireless EEG
on animals 1] B --> C[Prototype electrode
configurations 2] C --> D[Reference/ground
reduce artifacts 3] B --> E[Videos: electrodes,
amplifiers, rubber bands 4] A --> F[Dogs show mismatch
negativity 5] A --> G[Wireless allows
moving animals 6] A --> H[Live 4-channel
horse EEG 7] H --> I[Adjustable cap,
wireless amplifiers 8] H --> J[Auditory evoked
potential experiment 9] H --> K[Good wireless signals
while walking 10] H --> L[Some eating, ear
movement artifacts 11] H --> M[No reliable
alpha waves 12] H --> N[High amplitude
horse EEG 13] A --> O[Simple setup, difficult
visual potentials 14] A --> P[Future: hippotherapy,
synchronized EEG 15] A --> Q[Potential: horses'
responses to music 16] A --> R[Unlikely: horse
thought translation 17] H --> S[4 channels, reference/ground
behind ear 18] H --> T[Straps easier
than bridle 19] H --> U[Bluetooth works
10-20m outdoors 20] H --> V[Gel tolerable
for horses 21] H --> W[High amplitudes,
thinner horse skull 22] A --> X[Some dog
EEG recordings 23] A --> Y[Welcomes collaborations,
future directions 24] A --> Z[Inspires more
animal EEG research 25] class B,C,D,E,G,I,O,S,T,U equipment class F,H,J,L,X experiments class K,M,N,V,W results class P,Q,R,Y,Z future

Resume:

1.- Leo Schreiner, Marco, and Susanna demonstrate doing EEG recordings on animals like horses using wireless systems to overcome limitations of standardized caps.

2.- They built prototype electrode configurations for dogs and horses, placing electrodes at specific locations based on brain anatomy and literature.

3.- Reference and ground electrodes are placed to reduce artifacts, like on the dog's nose and behind the horse's ears.

4.- Videos show how the electrodes and amplifiers are mounted on the animals using rubber bands. The EEG signal quality looks good.

5.- Studies show dogs exhibit mismatch negativity to named objects, indicating the words match mental representations in their memory.

6.- Wireless systems allow recording EEG from freely moving animals, not just when lying down or sedated, enabling better research.

7.- They demonstrate live recording 4-channel EEG from a horse named Dreamy using a prototype cap with gel electrodes.

8.- The cap uses adjustable rubber bands to fit various head sizes. Amplifiers transmit data wirelessly to a computer.

9.- They run an auditory evoked potential experiment, presenting beeps to the horse while recording EEG to capture brain responses.

10.- Walking around demonstrates the wireless system maintains good signals while the horse moves freely up to 20 meters away.

11.- Some artifacts occur with eating but less than expected. Ear movements could cause artifacts so electrodes avoid the ears.

12.- Shading the horse's eyes to simulate closing them did not reliably produce clear alpha waves, but some bursts were captured.

13.- The horse EEG has very high amplitude compared to humans, likely due to a thinner skull allowing better signal measurement.

14.- Easy cap attachment allows simple EEG recording setup. Visual evoked potentials would require head-mounted displays which are difficult with horses.

15.- Potential future applications include studying human-horse interaction in hippotherapy and synchronized human/horse EEG during horseback riding.

16.- Studies on horses' neural responses to music could be an interesting area to investigate.

17.- Brain-computer interfaces to extract and translate horse vocalizations and thoughts are suggested humorously but deemed unlikely.

18.- Only 4 EEG channels are recorded currently, with the reference and ground behind the ear and 4 electrodes across the scalp.

19.- Attaching electrodes directly to the bridle was considered but straps were easier to adjust for proper contact.

20.- The bluetooth wireless system works well outdoors with the horse up to 10-20 meters away from the computer.

21.- Applying gel to electrodes seems tolerable for the horses despite them having sensitive skin, according to the horse handler Susie.

22.- Horse EEG shows very high amplitudes over 150 microvolts, larger than human EEG, likely because the horse's skull is thinner.

23.- The group has also done some EEG recordings with dogs but did not demonstrate that live today, only with the horse.

24.- Inspirations for future research directions and collaborations with animal institutes are welcomed to advance this nascent field further.

25.- The successful live demonstration hopefully inspires more animal EEG research among the students attending the spring school event.

Knowledge Vault built byDavid Vivancos 2024