EEGLAB for EEG Analysis: An Open-Source Toolkit for Advanced Signal Processing

The article introduces EEGLAB, a powerful open-source software toolkit for EEG analysis, which supports various advanced processing techniques including event-related EEG analysis, spectral analysis, Independent Component Analysis (ICA), source localization, and time-frequency analysis. EEGLAB's architecture enables researchers to implement custom pipelines through MATLAB scripting, with core functions like pop_loadset() for data import, pop_runica() for ICA decomposition, and pop_spectopo() for spectral visualization. The toolkit provides native support for multiple EEG file formats including EDF, BDF, EEGLAB SET, EGI, Nihon Kohden, Micromed, Biosemi, and BrainVision, facilitating seamless integration with diverse data acquisition systems. Algorithmically, EEGLAB implements optimized routines for ICA using extended Infomax or AMICA methods, time-frequency decomposition via wavelet transforms, and dipole source modeling through DIPFIT plugin integration. Moreover, EEGLAB maintains an active user community and discussion forum where developers share troubleshooting solutions, custom scripts (e.g., EEG preprocessing pipelines), and plugin extensions, significantly enhancing the efficiency and accessibility of EEG data analysis workflows.