Using single-trial EEG to predict and analyze subsequent memory

We show that it is possible to successfully predict subsequent memory performance based on single-trial EEG activity before and during item presentation in the study phase. Two-class classification was conducted to predict subsequently remembered vs. forgotten trials based on subjects' responses in the recognition phase. The overall accuracy across 18 subjects was 59.6% by combining pre- and during-stimulus information. The single-trial classification analysis provides a dimensionality reduction method to project the high-dimensional EEG data onto a discriminative space. These projections revealed novel findings in the pre- and during-stimulus periods related to levels of encoding. It was observed that the pre-stimulus information (specifically oscillatory activity between 25 and 35Hz) -300 to 0ms before stimulus presentation and during-stimulus alpha (7-12Hz) information between 1000 and 1400ms after stimulus onset distinguished between recollection and familiarity while the during-stimulus alpha information and temporal information between 400 and 800ms after stimulus onset mapped these two states to similar values.