BacAv

BacAv performs clinical back-averaging analysis to detect Bereitschaftspotential (BP) and localize myoclonus-related muscle bursts from electrophysiological recordings.

Key Features:

• Bereitschaftspotential (BP) recording: captures the slow wave negativity originating from the supplementary motor cortex and premotor cortex that precedes voluntary and involuntary movements, relevant to functional movement disorder (FMD) assessment.
• Myoclonus source localization: analyzes muscle activity to identify and localize the source of myoclonus.
• Muscle burst detection: reads text files and identifies muscle bursts within recorded signals.
• Segmentation and averaging: segments data around detected events and computes and plots averaged signals (back-averaging).
• Algorithm parameter customization: exposes parameters for detecting muscle bursts so they can be adapted to dataset-specific characteristics.
• Implementation: implemented in the R programming language within the RStudio environment.

Scientific Applications:

• Bereitschaftspotential analysis: study cortical preparatory activity preceding movement and support assessment of functional movement disorders (FMD).
• Myoclonus analysis: localize myoclonus-related muscle activity to inform clinical diagnosis and investigation of muscle-cortex relationships.

Methodology:

Implemented in R within RStudio; reads text files, detects muscle bursts, segments data around bursts, computes and plots averaged back-averaged signals, and allows adjustment of burst-detection parameters.