Apparatus and method for predicting probability of explosive behavior in people

• US 6,044,292 A
• Filed: 09/21/1998
• Issued: 03/28/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Donald R. Bars, Heyrend F. Lamarr
• Original Assignee: Donald R. Bars, Heyrend F. Lamarr
• Inventors: Bars, Donald R., Heyrend, F. LaMarr
• Primary Examiner(s): O'Connor, Cary
• Assistant Examiner(s): ASTORINO, MICHAEL C
• Application Number:
  US09/158,190
• Time in Patent Office: 554 Days
• Field of Search: 600/300, 600/701, 600/544, 600/545, 600/546
• US Class Current: 600/544
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/16 Devices for psychotechnics using teaching or educational appliances G09B1/00 - G09B7/00; Testing reaction times ; Devices for evaluating the psychological state
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/165 Evaluating the state of mind, e.g. depression, anxiety
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/168 Evaluating attention deficit, hyperactivity
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/378 Visual stimuli

Abstract

A method and apparatus for determining the probability of explosive behavior in a person of known age, sex and use of medication, is provided by generating and measuring a visually evoked response to a certain visually displayed paradigm and measuring the amplitude, in microvolts, of the evoked response at approximately 100 milliseconds after cessation of the paradigm display, and quantifying the absolute values of the delta, theta, alpha and beta frequency bands of a standard EEG, and applying this data to an algorithm to compute on the probability of explosive behavior.

Claims

1. A method of determining the probability of explosive behavior in a person of known age, sex and use of medication, using an electroencephalographic machine operable for reading human brain waves and generating an output, a computer operable for receiving the output of said electroencephalographic machine, a device operable to display a paradigm of a pre-selected design, illumination, and frequency, said computer also capable of synchronizing the recording and averaging said brain waves when the paradigm is illuminated, which comprises:

attaching electrodes of an electroencephalographic machine to the scalp of said person in accordance with the American Electroencephalographic Society'"'"'s Electrode Placement International 10-20 Standard System for measuring a person'"'"'s brain waves;

positioning said person to view a paradigm to visually evoke a potential in said person'"'"'s brain;

displaying to said person a plurality of sequentially displayed paradigms and simultaneously measuring the brain waves of said person for each of the displayed paradigms during the time of display;

averaging said brain waves to determine the visually evoked potential to said displays of said paradigms;

measuring the maximum amplitude, in microvolts, of said visually evoked potential at a point in time approximately 100 msec. after termination of each of the displays of said paradigms;

conducting and recording the quantitative electroencephalographic activity of said person;

measuring the amplitude of said quantitative electroencephalographic activity;

conducting a logistic regression analysis of said visually evoked potential at approximately 100 msec. after termination of each of said displays of said paradigm, said electroencephalographic activity, and said person'"'"'s age, sex, and whether said person is taking medication, to establish a predictive algorithm; and

computing the probability of explosive behavior using said algorithm.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the steps of conducting a logistic regression analysis of said visually evoked potential at 100 msec. after termination of each of said displays of said paradigm, and said person'"'"'s age, sex, and whether said person is taking any medication, to establish a predictive algorithm, and computing the probability of explosive behavior using said algorithm further comprise:

measuring the absolute power of the Delta frequency band at electrode F4; and

computing the probability of explosive behavior using the algorithm ln(P[explosive])=-6.2036+0.1194*age+(0.7567*sex)+0.1743*meds+1.0754*lnDeltaF4+0.2281*maxP100, where (P[explosive]) means the probability of explosive behavior, age means the person'"'"'s age in years, sex has a value of 0 if said person is a male and a value of 1 if said person is a female, meds has a value of 1 if said person is taking medications and 0 if not taking medications, DeltaF4 means the log of the absolute power of the Delta frequency band taken at electrode F4, and maxP100 means the maximum amplitude, in microvolts of said visually evoked potential at a point in time approximately 100 msec. after termination of the displays of said paradigms.

3. An apparatus for determining the probability of explosive behavior in a person of know age, sex and use of medication, which comprises:

an electroencephalographic machine having a plurality of electrodes adapted for attachment to the scalp of a person in accordance with the American Electroencephalographic Society'"'"'s Electrode Placement International 10-20 Standard System for measuring a person'"'"'s brain waves;

means for displaying to said person a plurality of sequentially displayed paradigms and simultaneously measuring the brain waves of said person for each of said displayed paradigms during the time of display;

means for averaging said brain waves to determine the visually evoked potential to said displays of said paradigms;

means for assessing the maximum amplitude, in microvolts, of said visually evoked potential at a point in time approximately 100 msec. after termination of each of said displays of said paradigms;

means for assessing absolute power of the quantitative electroencephalographic activity;

means for conducting a logistic regression analysis of said visually evoked potential approximately at 100 msec. after termination of each of said displays of said paradigms, said electroencephalographic activity, and said person'"'"'s age, sex, and whether said person is taking any medication, to establish a predictive algorithm; and

means for computing the probability of explosive behavior using said algorithm.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said means for conducting a logistic regression analysis of said visually evoked potential at approximately 100 msec. after termination of each of said displays of said paradigm, said electroencephalographic activity, and said person'"'"'s age, sex, and whether said person is taking any medication, to establish a predictive algorithm, and means for computing the probability of explosive behavior using said algorithm further comprise:

means for measuring the absolute power of the Delta wave at electrode F4; and

means for computing the probability of explosive behavior using the algorithm ln(P[explosive])=-6.2036+0.1194*age+(-0.7567*sex)+0.1743*meds+1.0754*lnDeltaF4+0.2281*maxP100, where (P[explosive]) means the probability of explosive behavior, age means the person'"'"'s age in years, sex has a value of 0 if said person is a male and a value of 1 if said person is a female, meds has a value of 1 if said person is taking anti-psychotic medications and 0 if not taking said medications, DeltaF4 means the log of the absolute power of the Delta frequency band taken at electrode F4, and maxP100 means the maximum amplitude, in microvolts of said visually evoked potential at a point in time approximate 100 msec. after termination of the displays of said paradigms.

5. A method of determining the probability of explosive behavior in a person of known age, sex and known not to be using medication at the time of testing, using an electroencephalographic machine operable for reading human brain waves, a computer operable for receiving the output of said electroencephalographic machine, a device operable to display a paradigm of a pre-selected design, illumination, and frequency, said computer also capable of synchronizing the recording and averaging said brains waves when the paradigm is illuminated, which comprises:

attaching electrodes of an electroencephalographic machine to the scalp of a person in accordance with the American Electroencephalographic Society'"'"'s Electrode Placement International 10-20 Standard System for measuring a person'"'"'s brain waves;

positioning said person to view a paradigm to visually evoke a potential in said person'"'"'s brain;

displaying to said person a plurality of sequentially displayed paradigms and simultaneously measuring the brain waves of said person for each of said displayed paradigms during the time of display;

averaging said brain waves to determine the visually evoked potential to said displays of said paradigms;

measuring the maximum amplitude, in microvolts, of said visually evoked potential at a point in time approximately 100 msec. after termination of each of said displays of said paradigms;

measuring the absolute power of the Alpha frequency band at electrode F3 and the Delta and Alpha frequency bands at electrode F4; and

computing the probability of explosive behavior using the algorithm ln(P[explosive])=-8.0905+0.1348*age+(0.7848*sex)+1.4233*lnDeltaF4+(-2.3854*lnAlphaF3)+2.4054*lnAlphaF4+0.2521*maxP100, where (P[explosive]) means the probability of explosive behavior, age means the person'"'"'s age in years, sex has a value of 0 if said person is a male and a value of 1 if said person is a female, AlphaF3 means the amplitude of the Alpha brain wave taken at electrode F3, AlphaF4 means the log of absolute power of the Alpha frequency band taken at electrode F4, DeltaF4 means the log of the absolute power of the Delta frequency band taken at electrode F4, and maxP100 means the maximum amplitude, in microvolts of said visually evoked potential at a point in time approximately 100 msec. after termination of the displays of said paradigms.

6. An apparatus for determining the probability of explosive behavior in a person of known age, sex and known not to be using medication, which comprises:

an electroencephalographic machine having a plurality of electrodes adapted for attachment to the scalp of a person in accordance with the American Electroencephalographic Society'"'"'s Electrode Placement International 10-20 Standard System for measuring a person'"'"'s brain waves;

means for displaying to said person a plurality of sequentially displayed paradigms and simultaneously measuring the brain waves of said person for each of said displayed paradigms during the time of display;

means for averaging said brain waves to determine the visually evoked potential to said displays of said paradigms;

means for assessing the maximum amplitude, in microvolts, of said visually evoked potential at a point in time approximately 100 msec. after termination of each of said displays of said paradigms;

means for measuring the amplitude of the Delta wave at electrode F4;

means for computing the probability of explosive behavior using the algorithm ln(P[explosive])=-8.0905+0.1348*age+(-0.7848*sex)+1.4233*lnDeltaF4+(-2.3854*lnAlphaF3)+2.4054*lnAlphaF4+0.2521*maxP100, where (P[explosive]) means the probability of explosive behavior, age means the person'"'"'s age in years, sex has a value of 0 if said person is a male and a value of 1 if said person is a female, AlphaF3 means the log of the absolute power of the Alpha frequency band taken at electrode F3, AlphaF4 means the log of the absolute power of the Alpha frequency band taken at electrode F4, DeltaF4 means the log of the absolute power of the Delta frequency band taken at electrode F4, and maxP100 means the maximum amplitude, in microvolts of said visually evoked potential at a point in time approximately 100 msec. after termination of the displays of said paradigms.

7. A method of determining the probability of explosive behavior in a person of known age, sex and known to be using medication at the time of testing, using an electroencephalographic machine operable for reading human brain waves, a computer operable for receiving the output of said electroencephalographic machine, a device operable to display a paradigm of a pre-selected design, illumination, and frequency, said computer also capable of synchronizing the recording and averaging said brains waves when the paradigm is illuminated, which comprises:

attaching the electrodes of an electroencephalographic machine to the scalp of a person in accordance with the American Electroencephalographic Society'"'"'s Electrode Placement International 10-20 Standard System for measuring a person'"'"'s brain waves;

positioning said person to view a paradigm to visually evoke a potential in said person'"'"'s brain;

displaying to said person a plurality of sequentially displayed paradigms and simultaneously measuring the brain waves of said person for each of said displayed paradigms during the time of display;

averaging said brain waves to determine the visually evoked potential to said displays of said paradigms;

measuring the maximum amplitude, in microvolts, of said visually evoked potential at a point in time approximately 100 msec. after termination of each of said displays of said paradigms;

measuring the absolute power of the Alpha frequency band at electrodes CZ and F4, and the Delta waves at electrodes F4, O2 and T6; and

computing the probability of explosive behavior using the algorithm ln(P[explosive])=-3.6891+(-0.0211*age)+6.0591*sex+(-2.214*lnAlphaCZ)+2.3227*lnDeltaF4+2.4516*lnAlphaF4+2.1643*lnDeltaO2+(-3.0554*lnDeltaT6)+(1.6841*sex*lnDeltaO2 P[explosive] means the probability of explosive behavior, age means the person'"'"'s age in years, sex has a value of 0 if said person is a male and a value of 1 if said person is a female, AlphaCZ means the log of the absolute power of the Alpha frequency band taken at electrode CZ, AlphaF4 means the log of the absolute power of the Alpha frequency band taken at electrode F4, DeltaF4 means the log of the absolute power of the Delta frequency band taken at electrode F4, DeltaO2 means the log of the absolute power of the Delta frequency band taken at electrode O2, and DeltaT6 means the log of the absolute power of the Delta frequency band taken at electrode T6.

8. An apparatus for determining the probability of explosive behavior in a person of know age, sex and known to be using medication, which comprises:

an electroencephalographic machine having a plurality of electrodes adapted for attachment to the scalp of a person in accordance with the American Electroencephalographic Society'"'"'s Electrode Placement International 10-20 Standard System for measuring a person'"'"'s brain waves;

means for displaying to said person a plurality of sequentially displayed paradigms and simultaneously measuring the brain waves of said person for each of said displayed paradigms during the time of display;

means for averaging said brain waves to determine the visually evoked potential to said displays of said paradigms;

means for assessing the maximum amplitude, in microvolts, of said visually evoked potential at a point in time representing 100 msec. after termination of each of said displays of said paradigms;

means for measuring the absolute power of the Delta frequency band at electrode F4;

means for computing the probability of explosive behavior using the algorithm ln(P[explosive])=-8.0905+0.1348*age+(-0.7848*sex)+1.4233*lnDeltaF4+(-2.3854*lnAlphaF3)+2.4054*lnAlphaF4+0.2521*maxP100, where (P[explosive]) means the probability of explosive behavior, age means the person'"'"'s age in years, sex has a value of 0 if said person is a male and a value of 1 if said person is a female, AlphaF3 means the log of the absolute power of the Alpha frequency band taken at electrode F3, AlphaF4 means the log of the absolute power of the Alpha frequency band taken at electrode F4, DeltaF4 means the log of the absolute power of the Delta frequency band taken at electrode F4, and maxP100 means the maximum log of the absolute power, in microvolts of said visually evoked potential at a point in time approximately 100 msec. after termination of the displays of said paradigms.