Neurolyzer: A Neurophysiologic Alcohol Response Index

描述(申请人提供)：酗酒会损害健康、导致事故和降低生产力。饮酒会导致急性行为减慢，难以集中和维持注意力。由于血液酒精和行为损害之间的关系因个体而异，因此，通过更直接地评估酒精对人脑的影响，可能会增加对酒精对功能影响的理解。目前还没有便捷的方法来衡量酒精对大脑活动的影响，特别是在执行现实世界任务或类似任务的个人，如模拟驾驶或飞行。最近的技术和科学进步意味着一项突破性技术--Neurolyzer的可行性，该技术专门设计用于在复杂任务执行期间例行、自动测量大脑对酒精的反应。与血液呼气酒精测定仪等测量酒精消耗量的仪器类似，神经解析仪将提供酒精对大脑影响的连续指数。它将体现在一个低成本、高度自动化的交钥匙系统中，用于记录和分析酒精对脑电信号的影响，该系统输出不断更新的酒精神经调节效应指数。它将把积累的脑电信号分析专业知识融入自动化软件中，减少按数量级提取此类信息所需的劳动力，使酒精研究人员能够方便而廉价地直接测量大脑活动。在过去成功项目的基础上，第一阶段将评估剩余的关键科学和信号处理问题。如果成功，第二阶段将产生和评估一个能够在醉酒者从事复杂活动时对其进行监测的系统，使系统能够在从精细的实验室任务到模拟现实世界活动再到社会互动的背景下对酒精的神经影响进行系统研究。由于将加入Neurolyzer的设备系列在酒精研究以外的许多领域都有应用，该项目具有良好的商业成功前景。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Alcohol abuse can degrade health, cause accidents and reduce productivity. Alcohol consumption can cause acute behavioral slowing and difficulties in concentrating and sustaining attention. Since the relation between blood alcohol and behavioral impairment differs across individuals, increased understanding of the functional impact of alcohol might be obtained through more direct assessment of the effect of alcohol on the human brain. At present there is no convenient way to gauge the effect of alcohol on brain activity, especially in individuals performing real world tasks or approximations thereof such as simulated driving or flight. Recent technological and scientific advances imply the feasibility of a breakthrough technology, the Neurolyzer, specifically designed for routine, automated measurement of the brain's response to alcohol during complex task performance. Similar to blood-breath alcohol meters, such as the Breathalyzer, that gauge the amount of alcohol consumed, the Neurolyzer will provide a continuous index of the effect of alcohol on the brain. It will be embodied in a low-cost, highly automated turnkey system for recording and analyzing the impact of alcohol on EEG signals, that outputs a continuously updated index of the neuromodulatory effects of alcohol. It will embody accumulated expertise about analysis of EEG signals into automated software that will reduce the labor required to extract such information by orders of magnitude, making direct measurements of brain activity available to alcohol researchers conveniently and inexpensively. Building on past successful projects, Phase I will evaluate key remaining scientific and signal processing issues. If successful, Phase II would produce and evaluate a system capable of monitoring an intoxicated individual while he or she engages in complex activities, enabling systematic study of the neural effects of alcohol in contexts ranging from refined laboratory tasks to simulations of real world activities to social interactions. Because the family of devices to which the Neurolyzer will be added has application in many areas beyond alcohol research, the project has good prospects for commercial success.