NEUROLYZER: A NEUROPHYSIOLOGIC ALCOHOL RESPONSE INDEX

描述(由申请人提供)：酗酒会损害健康，导致事故，以及。降低工作效率。饮酒会导致急性行为减慢和注意力难以集中。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。就像血液呼吸酒精测量仪测量酒精消耗量一样，Neurolyzer将提供酒精对大脑影响的测量。它将体现在一个经济的、高度自动化的系统中，用于记录和分析酒精对神经生理大脑功能信号的影响，该系统输出经常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，将提取此类信息所需的劳动力减少几个数量级，使酒精研究人员能够方便而廉价地直接测量大脑活动。第一阶段的工作证明了在运行飞行模拟器程序的受试者中自动测量酒精的神经生理影响的可行性，并评估了其他关键的信号处理问题。在第二阶段，我们将完善我们的分析程序，实施原型系统，在急性和急性酒精影响的实验室研究背景下验证方法，并在合作科学家的实验室部署一个原型Neurolyzer系统，用于在驾驶模拟器操作期间进行独立评估。尽管它的目标是一个小而关键的研究利基市场，但Neurolyzer也是脑功能监测设备家族的成员，这些设备在酒精研究以外的领域有着广泛的应用；因此，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 concentrating. 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. Like blood-breath alcohol meters that gauge the amount of alcohol consumed, the Neurolyzer will provide a measure of the effect of alcohol on the brain. It will be embodied in an economical, highly-automated system for recording and analyzing the impact of alcohol on neurophysiological brain function signals that outputs a frequently 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 several orders of magnitude, making direct measurements of brain activity available to alcohol researchers conveniently and inexpensively. The Phase I work demonstrated the feasibility of automatically measuring the neurophysiologic effects of alcohol in subjects operating a flight simulator program, and evaluated other critical signal processing issues. In Phase II we will refine our analysis procedures, implement a prototype system, validate the methods in the context of laboratory studies of acute and post-acute- alcohol effects, and deploy a prototype Neurolyzer system in the laboratory of a collaborating scientist for independent evaluation during operation of driving simulators. Although it is targeted at a small but critical research niche, the Neurolyzer is also a member of a family of brain function monitoring devices that have broad application in areas beyond alcohol research; as a result the project has good prospects for commercial success.