Tricks and tips in BrainVision Analyzer 2 – Part II
by Dr. Filipa Viola & Dr. Tracy Warbrick
Scientific Consultants (Brain Products)
Tricks and tips are always much appreciated by our users, so we decided to compile a few more suggestions which will facilitate your data analysis with BrainVision Analyzer 2.
Overview
- I would like to view only the channels that belong to the region of interest
- Have you heard about transient views?
- I would like to include a new frequency band in the FFT spectrum
- Do you know the difference between Edit Parameters Reprocess and Edit Parameters Copy?
- I would like to add a new marker to my EEG recording
- My history template requires manual interaction, can I run this step separately?
- I would like to proceed with the analysis but I have a “red node” in my tree
- I prefer to use a keyboard rather than a mouse to navigate my data. Is that possible in BrainVision Analyzer 2?
- I would like to see information about the position in data points in the status bar
- Did you know that you can call a previous workspace via the BrainVision Analyzer 2 button?
I would like to view only the channels that belong to the region of interest
You can use montages to group channels and optimize their presentation. You can access the menu under “Display → Montages → Create Montage → Original”. You can then click on the channels of interest, in this example the midline channels, in order to include them in the montage. Afterwards you need to save the montage file (*.mont2).
The montage can be changed under “Display Montage” in order to display the channels of interest only.
Have you heard about transient views?
You can use transient views to quickly and conveniently display a complementary view of your data. Right click in a portion of selected data and choose “Transient Views”. Select the view that you would like. For example, choose FFT to display the spectral content of the data portion you selected.
You will get a new window containing the transient view; this window will have a dedicated toolbar. When you move this window through time, the transient view automatically adapts to the new content. Remember that this output is “transient”, i.e. it is not stored anywhere and no new node is created.
I would like to include a new frequency band in the FFT spectrum
You can change the view settings globally by selecting “File → Configuration → View Settings”. Click on “Grid View” and then select the tab “Bands”. Add the new frequency band to the table and afterwards select “Apply to all Views”. From now on all FFT graphical outputs will display these six frequency bands by default. The same procedure is valid to change features in other views.
Do you know the difference between Edit Parameters Reprocess and Edit Parameters Copy?
Edit Parameters/Reprocess and Edit Parameters/Copy allow you to re-run processing steps with different parameters. For example, you might decide to change the cutoff frequency for your filter. This can be done anywhere in the middle of your history tree because the history nodes below the edited node will be recalculated with their original parameters. If you use Edit Parameters/Reprocess, the original node is removed and replaced. If you use Edit Parameters/Copy, the original node is retained and you get a new node in you History Tree for the new parameters. You can find Edit Parameters/Reprocess and Edit Parameters/Copy by right clicking on a history node.
I would like to add a new marker to my EEG recording
The toolbar offers a shortcut (button with the letter “M”) to access the transformation Edit Markers in graphical mode.
The interactive window will be displayed on the right and you have the possibility to scroll the data and insert new markers in a very convenient way. When all new markers were inserted, you need to select “OK” to finish.
My history template requires manual interaction, can I run this step separately?
Yes, you can split your history template at the point where manual interaction is required. The template does not have to be applied to the raw data node. For example, here we have created one history template for the preprocessing and filtering steps, this can be applied to the raw data node of many subjects automatically without interruption. The steps requiring manual interaction (in this case, Raw Data Inspection and Ocular Correction ICA) can then be applied manually for each subject. The remaining processing steps can then be done with a second history template applied to many subjects automatically.
I would like to proceed with the analysis but I have a “red node” in my tree.
When you use the transformation Edit Markers (or any other transformation that offers semi-automatic mode) and you close the interactive window accidentally, the transformation will be suspended and the name of the node will change to red in the history tree. It is not possible to apply further transformations to suspended nodes. In order to recover the interactive view window and finish the transformation, you need to close all windows and then double click on the suspended node.
I prefer to use a keyboard rather than a mouse to navigate my data. Is that possible in BrainVision Analyzer 2?
Yes, a number of keyboard shortcuts are available in Analyzer 2. For example, you can scroll through your continuous data or segments using Ctrl + the left and right arrow keys. You can increase or decrease the scaling by using Ctrl + the up and down arrows. A full list of keyboard shortcuts can be found in Appendix E of the Analyzer 2 User Manual.
I would like to see information about the position in data points in the status bar
You can customize the status bar in order to show relevant information. When you right click on the status bar, you have access to a context menu where you can select to display among others the name of the montage, the segment’s index, the amplitude (voltage), the name of workspace as well as the position in data points.
Did you know that you can call a previous workspace via the Brain Vision Analyzer 2 button?
If you would like to open a recently used workspace, you can do so by using the Analyzer button. If you click on the Analyzer button, you will see that Analyzer remembers the workspaces you have been working on recently and they are listed here. Just click on the one you want to open.
