EEGLAB-exporting file after running ICA

I have a short question regarding exporting EEG files.

I would like to export EEG files that have been run by ICA. For that, after having the process of "File>Export>Data and ICA activity to text file", am I supposed to check the box for "Export ICA activities instead of EEG" or uncheck it?

I am a little bit confused if I uncheck the box, I am getting raw EEG files that ICA is not applied.

Answer 1

[Sanchari]

Hello Eunsol,

In EEGLAB (EEG analysis software) that supports Independent Component Analysis (ICA), you can export data that has had ICA applied to it by exporting the ICA activity (ICA components) rather than the raw EEG data in ASCII Text or .txt format.

Here's what you should consider:

1. Unchecked "Export ICA activities instead of EEG": If you leave this box unchecked, the software will export the raw EEG data, which has not had the ICA process applied to it. This is the data as it was originally recorded before any artifact removal or component analysis.
2. Checked "Export ICA activities instead of EEG": When you check this box, you are indicating that you want to export the ICA components. These components represent the data after ICA decomposition, which separates the EEG signals into statistically independent sources. This can be useful for analysing or removing artifacts such as eye blinks or muscle noise.

Since you want to export data after ICA activity, you should check the box for "Export ICA activities instead of EEG".

You may refer to the following resources for additional information:

1. Save data from EEGLAB to .mat (MATLAB Answers): https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/452061-how-to-save-data-from-eeglab-to-mat?s_tid=srchtitle
2. Weighted ICA algorithm example use-case (File Exchange): https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/74140-an-example_showing_the_basic_usage_of_the_wica_algorithm?s_tid=answers_rc2-2_p5_MLT
3. Exporting boundary events created in EEGLAB (MATLAB Answer): https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/2024777-exporting-boundary-events-created-in-eeglab?s_tid=answers_rc1-3_p3_Topic

I hope this resolves the confusion!