EEG measurements-based study for evaluating acoustic human perception: A pilot study

Sound quality analysis and sound design are well-known human-centered strategies to evaluate the subjective perception of noise and to design machines and environments with pleasant and comfortable acoustic signatures. The subjective acoustic perception is conventionally measured by means of sound quality metrics determined through a correlation process with jury test results. The exploitation of electroencephalogram (EEG) measurements during the jury test for the registration of the brain activity in response to the acoustic stimuli presented to the jurors can allow us to estimate the jurors’ perception directly from their physiological response. This study presents results from the application of an EEG wearable device to investigate changes in the EEG frequency domain at different acoustic stimuli. Forty-three participants were recruited, and the EEG signals were recorded using the wearable sensor. The analysis of power spectral densities (PSDs) was performed to investigate features correlated to acoustic sensation induced by audio stimuli. Statistically significant differences were found between the three audio stimuli. The results bring to the conclusion that wearable sensors could be used for EEG acquisition applied to acoustic perception evaluation.