Data-Driven EEG Band Discovery with Decision Trees

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a brain imaging technique in which electrodes are placed on the scalp. EEG signals are commonly decomposed into frequency bands called delta, theta, alpha, and beta. While these bands have been shown to be useful for characterizing various brain states, their utility as a one-size-fits-all analysis tool remains unclear. The goal of this work is to outline an objective strategy for discovering optimal EEG bands based on signal power spectra. A two-step data-driven methodology is presented for objectively determining the best EEG bands for a given dataset. First, a decision tree is used to estimate the optimal frequency band boundaries for reproducing the signal’s power spectrum for a predetermined number of bands. The optimal number of bands is then determined using an Akaike Information Criterion (AIC)-inspired quality score that balances goodness-of-fit with a small band count. This data-driven approach led to better characterization of the underlying power spectrum by identifying bands that outperformed the more commonly used band boundaries by a factor of two. Additionally, key spectral components were isolated in dedicated frequency bands. The proposed method provides a fully automated and flexible approach to capturing key signal components and possibly discovering new indices of brain activity.