QEEGNet: Quantum Machine Learning for Enhanced Electroencephalography Encoding

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a critical tool in neuroscience and clinical practice for monitoring and analyzing brain activity. Traditional neural network models, such as EEG-Net, have achieved considerable success in decoding EEG signals but often struggle with the complexity and high dimensionality of the data. Recent advances in quantum computing present new opportunities to enhance machine learning models through quantum machine learning (QML) techniques. In this paper, we introduce Quantum-EEGNet (QEEGNet), a novel hybrid neural network that integrates quantum computing with the classical EEGNet architecture to improve EEG encoding and analysis, as a forward-looking approach, acknowledging that the results might not always surpass traditional methods but it shows its potential. QEEGNet incorporates quantum layers within the neural network, allowing it to capture more intricate patterns in EEG data and potentially offering computational advantages. We evaluate QEEGNet on a benchmark EEG dataset, BCI Competition IV 2a, demonstrating that it consistently outperforms traditional EEG-Net on most of the subjects and other robustness to noise. Our results highlight the significant potential of quantum-enhanced neural networks in EEG analysis, suggesting new directions for both research and practical applications in the field.