artifact rejection
Process of identifying and removing non-neural signals from neurophysiological recordings.
Full Definition
Artifact rejection is a critical preprocessing step in neurophysiological data analysis that involves identifying and eliminating signals that do not originate from neural activity. Common artifacts include eye movements, muscle contractions, cardiac activity, electrode movement, and environmental electrical interference. Rejection can be performed manually by trained technologists reviewing the data epoch by epoch, or automatically using algorithms that detect signal characteristics typical of artifacts. Proper artifact rejection is essential for accurate interpretation of EEG, MEG, and other neurophysiological recordings, as artifacts can mimic pathological patterns or obscure genuine neural signals.
Usage
Usage note: Hyphenate when used as compound adjective; separate when used as noun phrase.
In Context
- "Automated artifact rejection algorithms identified and excluded 15% of the recording epochs." — EEG analysis report
- "Manual artifact rejection was performed by an experienced neurophysiology technologist." — Sleep study methodology