La présente thèse étudie le rôle de l'accent prosodique (accent de mot vs. accent de syntagme) lors du traitement auditif de paires minimales ambigües (mots composés vs. syntagmes) du chinois mandarin. Deux types de paires minimales ont été utilisés: 1) Mots composés avec un ton neutre (ex: dong3xi0 « chose ») vs. Syntagme avec un ton plein (ex: dong3xi1 « est et ouest ») qui se distinguent par la réalisation du ton sur la syllabe finale ; 2) Mots composés Verbe-Nom (VN) (ex: 'chaofan « riz frit ») vs. Syntagmes Verbe-Objet (VO) (ex: chao'fan « frire du riz ») se distinguant par la position de l'accent prosodique. Nos données comportementales et neurophysiologiques démontrent que : 1) la syllabe finale est plus longue et l'étendue de la F0 est plus large dans les VO que dans les VN, 2) la prosodie assiste le système de traitement pour anticiper la structure morphologique des séquences ambigües, et 3) un traitement hiérarchique « de droite-à-gauche » des informations prosodiques en complément d'un traitement séquentiel « de gauche-à-droite » prend place en chinois mandarin. Prises dans leur ensemble, nos données précisent la description fonctionnelle et structurale du modèle Prosody-Assisted-Processing (PAP) pour le chinois mandarin. / The present thesis investigates the role of prosodic stress (i.e. lexical versus phrasal stress) on the auditory processing of Mandarin Chinese ambiguous compound /phrase minimal pairs. Two types of compound/phrase minimal pairs were used: 1) Compound word with a neutral tone (e.g. dong3xi0 "thing") vs. phrase with a full tone (e.g. dong3xi1 "east and west") distinguished by the final syllable tone realization; 2) Verb-Noun (VN) compound word (e.g. 'chaofan "fried rice") and Verb-Object (VO) phrase (e.g. chao'fan "fry the rice") distinguished by the position of the prosodic stress. Combined behavioral and neurophysiological data demonstrate that 1) the final syllable was more lengthened and the F0 range was larger in VO than in VN, 2) prosodic structure does assist the processing system in anticipating morphological structure, and 3) a right-to-left hierarchical processing of prosodic information in addition to a sequential left-to-right one is involved during the processing of ambiguous spoken sequences in Mandarin Chinese. Taken together, our findings allowed us to precise the functional and structural description of the Prosody-Assisted-Processing (PAP) model for Mandarin Chinese.

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<p style="text-align: justify">Cilj ove doktorske disertacije je da predstavi model i računarski sistem koji re&scaron;ava problem osoba sa invaliditetom koja nisu u mogućnosti da koriste ruke ili funkciju govora u ostvarivanju komunikacije. Disertacija se bavi problematikom mogućnosti primene ekonomski pristupačnih asistivnih tehnologija u domenu primene servisa elektronske uprave. Od asistivnih tehnologija disertacija istražuje mogućnosti primene neinvazivne BCI tehnologije u poređenju sa sistemima baziranih na HD kamerama. Razvijen je računarski sistem koji omogućava integraciju u operativni sistem i upotrebu računara za unos komandi upotrebom detekcije moždanih talasa.</p> / <p>The main objective of this doctoral thesis is to present the model and a computer system that solves the communication problem of people with disabilities (people who cannot use their hands or the function of speech communication). The dissertation researches the possibility to apply economic affordable assistive technologies in the field of application of e-government services. Thesis explores the possibilities of application of non-invasive BCI technology compared to systems based on HD<br />cameras. Has been developed a computer system that allows the integration into the<br />operating system that allow to enter commands by the detection of brain waves.</p>

Background. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) patients have been reported to display deficits in action control processes. While it is known that subliminally and consciously induced conflicts interact and conjointly modulate action control in healthy subjects, this has never been investigated for ADHD. Method. We investigated the (potential) interaction of subliminally and consciously triggered response conflicts in children with ADHD and matched healthy controls using neuropsychological methods (event-related potentials; ERPs) to identify the involved cognitive sub-processes. Results. Unlike healthy controls, ADHD patients showed no interaction of subliminally and consciously triggered response conflicts. Instead, they only showed additive effects as their behavioural performance (accuracy) was equally impaired by each conflict and they showed no signs of task-goal shielding even in cases of low conflict load. Of note, this difference between ADHD and controls was not rooted in early bottom-up attentional stimulus processing as reflected by the P1 and N1 ERPs. Instead, ADHD showed either no or reversed modulations of conflict-related processes and response selection as reflected by the N2 and P3 ERPs. Conclusion. There are fundamental differences in the architecture of cognitive control which might be of use for future diagnostic procedures. Unlike healthy controls, ADHD patients do not seem to be endowed with a threshold which allows them to maintain high behavioural performance in the face of low conflict load. ADHD patients seem to lack sufficient top-down attentional resources to maintain correct response selection in the face of conflicts by shielding the response selection process from response tendencies evoked by any kind of distractor.

This master’s thesis deals with issues of the detection of K-complexes in EEG sleep signals. Record from an electroencephalograph is important for non-invasive diagnosis and research of brain activity. The scanned signal is used to examine sleep phases, disturbances, states of consciousness and the effects of various substances. This work follows the automatic detection of K-complexes, because the manual labeling of graphoelements is complicated. Two approaches were used –Stockwell transform and bandpass filtration followed by TKEO operator application. All algorithms were created in the MATLAB R2014a.

This master‘s thesis presents the problems of EEG bio-feedback and its application for relaxing a person. It deals with the requirements of the sensing electrode and the biological signal amplifiers. The main substance of my thesis is the proposal of Alpha monitor, a device that uses the electrical activity of alpha brain waves for the realization of biological EEG feedback. The device concept takes into consideration the requirements of users’ security and also characteristics of alpha activity, which define the requirements for signal processing circuits and for propositions of the aural transducer. This master‘s thesis analyses given submission, proposes particular circuits, presents the overall electrical diagram and the list of components. The overall electrical diagram and single circuits are drawn within the EAGLE 5.7.0.

The main objective of this diploma thesis is to describe simultaneous electroencephalography-correlated functional magnetic resonance imaging analysis using EEG data processing. It includes basic characteristics of EEG and fMRI recording and analysis and their combination as simultaneous EEG/fMRI analysis and deals with obstructions during its processing. The thesis includes a design of an experiment used for recording and analysis of simultaneous EEG/fMRI data using EEG source reconstruction for regressor construction. Thesis incorporates a software solution used for extraction of signal describing a source activity interpolated by EEG source reconstruction. The signal is then processed and used to construct a basic regressor. The thesis also deals with the software solution being used for a study focused on intracranial epileptic discharges localization using a simultaneous EEG/fMRI analysis in which it reveals source activity during ongoing epileptic spike and summarizes the results.

This semestral thesis deals with visualization of intracranial EEG. In the first part, theoretical basics of EEG is mentioned. After that, image registration, as a needed tool for visualization is described followed by research of methods of visualization of high frequency oscilations from intracranial EEG. Finally, method for visualization of high frequency oscilations from EEG in real MRI patient scans is designed and implemented.

Epileptic disease is connected with change in activity of neuronal clusters. Brain connectivity analysis deals with statistic interdependencies between different neuronal centres. Earlier studies show that changes in connectivity can be seen near primary epileptic site. What is changing connectivity and its characteristic in interictal recordings are yet to be fully known. In this thesis are analyzed data from intracranial EEG electrodes, positioned in and neighboring areas of epileptic site. Changes in connectivity of epileptic site and its surroundings are observed by nonlinear correlation method. Decrease in connectivity of epileptic site during slow wave sleep was detected on frequencies above 80 Hz. Reduced connectivity was measured on the border of epileptic zone and normal tissue. Observed features are accentuated during sleep. It was also found out that connectivity at the border of epileptic zone apears to have nonlinear property. The results show that physiological processes during sleep are influencing connectivity near epileptic site and decrease in connectivity may be related to nonlinear dependence of neuronal activity at the border of epileptic zone. This study confirms hypothesis of the earlier studies and reveals new facts about connectivity of epileptic site from the perspective of nonlinear processes. Consequent study based on this findings might lead to more precise delineation of epileptic site and to better understanding of processes, which are causing epileptic fits.

The Human brain consists of mutually connected neuronal populations that build anatomically and functionally separated structures. To understand human brain activity and connectivity, it is crucial to describe how these structures are connected and how information is spread. Commonly used methods often work with data from scalp EEG, with a limited number of contacts, and are incapable of observing dynamic changes during cognitive processes or different behavioural states. In addition, connectivity studies almost never analyse pathological parts of the brain, which can have a crucial impact on pathology research and treatment. The aim of this work is connectivity analysis and its evolution in time during cognitive tasks using data from intracranial EEG. Physiological processes in cognitive stimulation and the local connectivity of pathology in the epileptic brain during wake and sleep were analysed. The results provide new insight into human brain physiology research. This was achieved by an innovative approach which combines connectivity methods with EEG spectral power calculation. The second part of this work focuses on seizure onset zone (SOZ) connectivity in the epileptic brain. The results describe the functional isolation of the SOZ from the surrounding tissue, which may contribute to clinical research and epilepsy treatment.