Combining behavior and EEG analysis for exploration of dynamic effects of ADHD treatment in animal models

BACKGROUND We analyze the dynamics of rodent EEG amplitude in an experiment accompanied by video recordings. Brain activity of animals is commonly acquired together with a video of behavior, but recordings are rarely combined in analysis. The data acquired is most commonly analyzed separately. To our knowledge, no study has used behavior to improve the analysis of EEG waveforms, specifically for artifact removal - other than through manual editing. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S) We explore two approaches: a traditional approach that relies on data preprocessing and artifact rejection by an expert; and an alternative approach that combines analysis of EEG with behavior extracted from video recordings. NEW METHOD We use the level of activity extracted from the behavioral video as a measure of confidence in the acquired EEG waveform, and as a weighting factor in averaging and statistical comparisons. RESULTS We find in analysis of the EEG that the two approaches lead to similar conclusions, but the analysis leveraging behavioral data achieves this while avoiding many subjective choices often required for artifact rejection and data preprocessing. CONCLUSIONS The methods we describe allow for the inclusion of all recorded data in the analysis, thereby making statistical tests more friendly to interpretation, and making the data processing transparent and reproducible.