EEG in the context of Cerebellar cortex

In psycholinguistics, language processing refers to the way humans use words to communicate ideas and feelings, and how such communications are processed and understood. Language processing is considered to be a uniquely human ability that is not produced with the same grammatical understanding or systematicity in even human's closest primate relatives.

Throughout the 20th century the dominant model for language processing in the brain was the Geschwind–Lichteim–Wernicke model, which is based primarily on the analysis of brain-damaged patients. However, due to improvements in intra-cortical electrophysiological recordings of monkey and human brains, as well non-invasive techniques such as fMRI, PET, MEG and EEG, an auditory pathway consisting of two parts has been revealed and a two-streams model has been developed. In accordance with this model, there are two pathways that connect the auditory cortex to the frontal lobe, each pathway accounting for different linguistic roles. The auditory ventral stream pathway is responsible for sound recognition, and is accordingly known as the auditory 'what' pathway. The auditory dorsal stream in both humans and non-human primates is responsible for sound localization, and is accordingly known as the auditory 'where' pathway. In humans, this pathway (especially in the left hemisphere) is also responsible for speech production, speech repetition, lip-reading, and phonological working memory and long-term memory. In accordance with the 'from where to what' model of language evolution, the reason the ADS is characterized with such a broad range of functions is that each indicates a different stage in language evolution.

A brain–computer interface (BCI), sometimes called a brain–machine interface (BMI), is a direct communication link between the brain's electrical activity and an external device, most commonly a computer or robotic limb. BCIs are often directed at researching, mapping, assisting, augmenting, or repairing human cognitive or sensory-motor functions. They are often conceptualized as a human–machine interface that skips the intermediary of moving body parts (e.g. hands or feet). BCI implementations range from non-invasive (EEG, MEG, MRI) and partially invasive (ECoG and endovascular) to invasive (microelectrode array), based on how physically close electrodes are to brain tissue.

Research on BCIs began in the 1970s by Jacques Vidal at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) under a grant from the National Science Foundation, followed by a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Vidal's 1973 paper introduced the expression brain–computer interface into scientific literature.

Psychophysiology (from Greek ψῡχή, psȳkhē, "breath, life, soul"; φύσις, physis, "nature, origin"; and -λογία, -logia) is the branch of psychology that is concerned with the physiological bases of psychological processes. While psychophysiology was a general, broad field of research in the 1960s and 1970s, it has now become quite specialized, based on methods, topic of studies, and scientific traditions. Methods vary as combinations of electrophysiological methods (such as EEG), neuroimaging (MRI, PET), and neurochemistry. Topics have branched into subspecializations such as social, sport, cognitive, cardiovascular, clinical, and other branches of psychophysiology.

The 10–20 system or International 10–20 system is an internationally recognized method to describe and apply the location of scalp electrodes in the context of an EEG exam, polysomnograph sleep study, or voluntary lab research. This method was developed to maintain standardized testing methods ensuring that a subject's study outcomes (clinical or research) could be compiled, reproduced, and effectively analyzed and compared using the scientific method. It also ensures consistency in EEG measurements despite the variety of head shapes and sizes. The system is based on the relationship between the location of an electrode and the underlying area of the brain, specifically the cerebral cortex.

Across all phases of consciousness, brains produce different, objectively recognizable and distinguishable electrical patterns, which can be detected by electrodes on the skin. These patterns vary, and are affected by multiple extrinsic factors, including age, prescription drugs, somatic diagnoses, history of neurologic insults/injury/trauma, and substance abuse.

The neuroscience of sleep is the study of the neuroscientific and physiological basis of the nature of sleep and its functions. Traditionally, sleep has been studied as part of psychology and medicine. The study of sleep from a neuroscience perspective grew to prominence with advances in technology and the proliferation of neuroscience research from the second half of the twentieth century.

The importance of sleep is demonstrated by the fact that organisms daily spend hours of their time in sleep, and that sleep deprivation can have disastrous effects ultimately leading to death in animals. For a phenomenon so important, the purposes and mechanisms of sleep are only partially understood, so much so that as recently as the late 1990s it was quipped: "The only known function of sleep is to cure sleepiness". However, the development of improved imaging techniques like EEG, PET and fMRI, along with faster computers have led to an increasingly greater understanding of the mechanisms underlying sleep.