Post-processing of EEG-based Auditory Attention Decoding Decisions via Hidden Markov Models

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Heintz, Nicolas, Francart, Tom, Bertrand, Alexander
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
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author Heintz, Nicolas
Francart, Tom
Bertrand, Alexander
author_facet Heintz, Nicolas
Francart, Tom
Bertrand, Alexander
contents Auditory attention decoding (AAD) algorithms exploit brain signals, such as electroencephalography (EEG), to identify which speaker a listener is focusing on in a multi-speaker environment. While state-of-the-art AAD algorithms can identify the attended speaker on short time windows, their predictions are often too inaccurate for practical use. In this work, we propose augmenting AAD with a hidden Markov model (HMM) that models the temporal structure of attention. More specifically, the HMM relies on the fact that a subject is much less likely to switch attention than to keep attending the same speaker at any moment in time. We show how a HMM can significantly improve existing AAD algorithms in both causal (real-time) and non-causal (offline) settings. We further demonstrate that HMMs outperform existing postprocessing approaches in both accuracy and responsiveness, and explore how various factors such as window length, switching frequency, and AAD accuracy influence overall performance. The proposed method is computationally efficient, intuitive to use and applicable in both real-time and offline settings.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_24024
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Post-processing of EEG-based Auditory Attention Decoding Decisions via Hidden Markov Models
Heintz, Nicolas
Francart, Tom
Bertrand, Alexander
Signal Processing
Machine Learning
Auditory attention decoding (AAD) algorithms exploit brain signals, such as electroencephalography (EEG), to identify which speaker a listener is focusing on in a multi-speaker environment. While state-of-the-art AAD algorithms can identify the attended speaker on short time windows, their predictions are often too inaccurate for practical use. In this work, we propose augmenting AAD with a hidden Markov model (HMM) that models the temporal structure of attention. More specifically, the HMM relies on the fact that a subject is much less likely to switch attention than to keep attending the same speaker at any moment in time. We show how a HMM can significantly improve existing AAD algorithms in both causal (real-time) and non-causal (offline) settings. We further demonstrate that HMMs outperform existing postprocessing approaches in both accuracy and responsiveness, and explore how various factors such as window length, switching frequency, and AAD accuracy influence overall performance. The proposed method is computationally efficient, intuitive to use and applicable in both real-time and offline settings.
title Post-processing of EEG-based Auditory Attention Decoding Decisions via Hidden Markov Models
topic Signal Processing
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.24024