Sleep Recording Protocol

This is a step-by-step guide describing how you can get the most out of your EEG sleep recording using Mentalab Explore.

Battery life is affected by sampling rate and Bluetooth connection. To maximize your recording time, we recommend offline recording at 250Hz.

Setting up your Mentalab system

Fully charge your amplifier then disconnect it from the USB port.
Set up your participant’s cap and electrodes.
Open Explore Desktop and connect your amplifier to your computer via Bluetooth.
Check your system’s impedances using Explore Desktop. If you need to improve your impedances, please consult: our guide on improving impedances, our pre-experiment checklist, and our dry electrode guide.
End Explore Desktop’s impedance mode and go to the Configuration page. Name your channels and apply the changes.
Format your memory, and disconnect from Bluetooth. Your device should be blinking green. This indicates that it is recording in offline mode.
Go to sleep! (And try to avoid moving the electrodes.)

Exporting your data

Ensure that your amplifier is turned off (no blinking of any kind).

Connecting your amplifier to a USB port while it is still recording will corrupt the data. Always make sure your device is powered off before connecting it via USB to another system.

If your amplifier is still recording (offline), it will blink green intermittently. Hold the amplifier’s button to power off (you will see three red blinks followed by no blinks at all).

Disconnect the electrodes from your amplifier.
Connect your amplifier to a computer using the provided USB cable.
Export the largest BIN file you can see on the internal memory.
Convert the BIN file to an appropriate file type using Explore Desktop’s File menu (top left corner).
Finally, charge your amplifier and clean your cap and electrodes thoroughly. For more on cleaning, see our cleaning guide.

For more information or support, do not hesitate to get in contact at: support@mentalab.com