Detecting Depression Using Single-Channel EEG and Graph Methods

Objective: This paper applies graph methods to distinguish major depression disorder (MDD) and healthy (H) subjects using the graph features of single-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. Methods: Four network features-graph entropy, mean degree, degree two, and degree three-were extracted from the 19-channel EEG signals of 64 subjects (26 females and 38 males), and then these features were forwarded to a support vector machine to conduct depression classification based on the eyes-open and eyes-closed statuses, respectively. Results: Statistical analysis showed that graph features with degree of two and three, the graph entropy of MDD was significantly lower than that for H (p < 0.0001). Additionally, the accuracy of detecting MDD using single-channel T4 EEG with leave-one-out cross-validation from H was 89.2% and 92.0% for the eyes-open and eyes-closed statuses, respectively. Conclusion: This study shows that the graph features of a short-term EEG can help assess and evaluate MDD. Thus, single-channel EEG signals can be used to detect depression in subjects. Significance: Graph feature analysis discovered that MDD is more related to the temporal lobe than the frontal lobe.