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FASTER FAQs

• Q. What is FASTER?
• A. FASTER is a fully automated, unsupervised method for processing of high density EEG data. FASTER is free and the code is open source.
• Q. What do I need to start?
• A. You will need [| Matlab ] (with the statistics and signal processing toolboxes) and [| EEGLAB ] (version 7 or higher). You will also need a free filter plugin for EEGLAB called [| firfilt], which is written by [| Andreas Widmann], who has kindly given us permission us to bundle his code with the FASTER code so you will not need to download firfilt separately.
• Q. How much processing will FASTER do?
• A. FASTER will take raw data and process it to the point at which statistics can be conducted on a between-subject level. You do not need to remove contaminated channels or bad epochs before using FASTER.
• Q. How much signal processing do I need to know?
• A. You can use FASTER without knowing any signal processing. The defaults in the current version are set to the values in the FASTER manuscript, which was based on real and simulated P3b data. All values are modifiable and all parameters can be turned on and off through the GUI. Adjusting some parameters may help improve the quality of your data, so users are encouraged to try FASTER in different configurations on a sample of their data. Our next goal is to determine the optimal configurations for particular types of data (e.g., P3a, MMN, N400) and for different populations (e.g., older adults, patient populations) and to make these configurations publicly available.
• Q. How much Matlab do I need to know?
• A. Almost none. If you can set the path and type in the command line then you are able to use FASTER. To set the path in Matlab (i.e., to tell Matlab where to find the files) click 'File' then 'Set Path', followed by 'Add with sub-folders' then Save and Close.
• Q. Is there a version of FASTER that doesn't need Matlab?
• A. Not at the moment, but there will be in the future.
• Q. Can I use FASTER in conjunction with other programs?
• A. Yes, FASTER can be used to process data before using software such as [| SPM], [| BESA] and [| CARTOOL]. An automatic converter to these formats will be added to future versions of FASTER, including the construction of the first level design matrix for SPM.
• Q. How many electrodes should I have?
• A. FASTER is primarily designed for high-density EEG arrays (128 or greater channels) although it works well on 32-channel arrays. It has not been tested on fewer than 32 channels and we do not anticipate constructing a version for low-density arrays. FASTER should work well on arrays with greater than 128 channels.
• Q. What operating systems can I run FASTER on?
• A. FASTER has been tested on Windows and Linux (Ubuntu and Fedora). FASTER should work on any operating system that can run Matlab.
• Q. What about channel locations?
• A. FASTER uses several EEGLAB functions. Check out the [| EEGLAB wiki] for information on channel locations etc.
• Q. I don't have any EOG channels recorded, can I still use FASTER?
• A. FASTER works best with EOG channels recorded, but in the absence of these, using frontal channels such as Fpz, Fp1, Fp2, AF7, AF8 may suffice. We can't promise it will work all the time (sometimes the EOG may remain), but it has worked quite well in the past.
• Q. I have an an idea for improving FASTER. Can I contribute?
• A. Yes, you can. The code is open source, and we are happy for anyone to improve FASTER. If you do modify the code, we would be grateful if you email us the changed file. We will include your modification as an option in future releases of FASTER and all contributions will be acknowledged. You can also send suggestions about improving FASTER to Hugh [[mailto: nolanhu@tcd.ie | (nolanhu@tcd.ie)]] and/or Rob [[mailto: robert.whelan@tcd.ie | (robert.whelan@tcd.ie)]].
• Q. What will be in future releases of FASTER?
• A. The next steps are to add FASTER to EEGLAB as a plugin, and to allow processing of files that are already loaded in EEGLAB.
• Q. Who should I send bug reports to?
• A. Please email Hugh [[mailto: nolanhu@tcd.ie | (nolanhu@tcd.ie)]] and/or Rob [[mailto: robert.whelan@tcd.ie | (robert.whelan@tcd.ie)]] with any bug reports. Please send the the .eegjob file and, if possible, a small sample of your data.

FASTER Updates and Notes

• 06-Oct-2010: v1.1.
  • Fixed some bugs when using .fdt files
  • Fixed bugs when using more than one reference electrode
  • Fixed miscellaneous bugs where prefixes weren’t added to output files
  • Added grand averaging features:
    • Grand average with more than one epoch marker
    • Use trimmed mean for grand average
  • Added the options to interpolate bad channels after performing ICA
  • Added option to epoch continuous data at set intervals
  • Added save-as option to save a jobfile under a new name
  • Added new error catching system
• 28-Sept-2010: v1.0.2. Update fixes a number of bugs with ICA, adds an option.
• 28-Sept-2010: Sample data file downloads have been fixed.
• 27-Sept-2010: v1.0.1. Minor update to FASTER fixes a few bugs and includes the FIRFilt plugin.
• 24-Sept-2010: Added sample data files.
• 20-Sept-2010: v1.0. Public release. Minor changes to the resume and file moving code so it works together. Fixed bugs with the grand averaging function. Added manual to the .zip file.
• 8-Sept-2010: Added necessary file for grand averages.
• 1st-Sept-2010: Beta GUI uploaded.
• 04-Aug-2010: Previous distribution included an error in channel artifact detection which has been fixed.
• 03-Aug-2010: The distribution pre-3rd August included a call to a function in the wavelet toolbox. A new version has been uploaded removing this dependency.
• 23-Jul-2010: The distribution pre-23rd July was missing an essential file. This has been added.