I'm using the EPOC X EEG Headset from Emotiv. I was recording the raw EEG data while doing BCI training to "push" a cube on the EmoticBCI application. Going back to the recording after the training was done, I noticed that there were sustained levels of alpha waves during this, while almost no beta wave increase. I am very new to Neuroscience and am currently just experimenting with this device. From what I've read so far, alpha waves are supposed to increase in a relaxed state, while beta waves increase when one concentrates on something. Could someone explain to me why I am seeing increased alpha waves instead of beta waves?
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2$\begingroup$ Though not entirely specific to the question you're asking here, I have some other relevant answers here: psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/23623/… psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/20075/… In short, these bands are not "real", they are names, and statements like "alpha waves do this, beta waves do that" are all loose generalizations and simplifications. $\endgroup$– Bryan Krause ♦Commented Mar 29, 2022 at 17:10
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1$\begingroup$ Thank you for the reference material. What I found interesting is that the power of each frequency is basically compared to a baseline and that's what we likely see. However, in regards to my question, I noticed today that this spike in theta and alpha waves was periodic. So I put the headset back on and discovered that these spikes were simply the blinking artifacts. Learning moment for me. I'm trying to figure out now how to filter out the data sufficiently enough to see which sensor(s) is/are giving me a sustained output showing me "pushing" the cube. $\endgroup$– rayank97Commented Mar 31, 2022 at 13:25
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$\begingroup$ With a couple figures showing the signals you are looking at that could be a good self-answer. $\endgroup$– Bryan Krause ♦Commented Mar 31, 2022 at 13:50
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Here are a few screenshots of what I observed. This is a screenshot of when I put the headset back on and purposely blinked. Noticed this particular shape in the signal repeating every time I did so.
And these are the so-called "alpha" and "theta" waves spikes I mentioned. Now I notice that it's simply due to blinking.
So basically every time I blinked, this would spike. I'm not going to pretend to understand why, but I'm guessing that it's because of the muscle movement, as I can see from the signals in the raw data, only some leads give me that output when I blink and I noticed all those leads are connected on regions of my scalp where I can feel my skin very subtly shift when I blink.