# EEG2GAIT: A Hierarchical Graph Convolutional Network for EEG-based Gait Decoding

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.03757 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.03757/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 17 of its 60 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 2 Apr 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 17 of 17)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [Semi-Supervised Classification with Graph Convolutional Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1609.02907/) (2016)
- [Batch Normalization: Accelerating Deep Network Training by Reducing Internal Covariate Shift](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1502.03167/) (2015)
- [Deep Inside Convolutional Networks: Visualising Image Classification Models and Saliency Maps](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1312.6034/) (2013)
- [Convolutional Neural Networks on Graphs with Fast Localized Spectral Filtering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.09375/) (2016)
- [Spectral Networks and Locally Connected Networks on Graphs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1312.6203/) (2013)
- [Fast and Accurate Deep Network Learning by Exponential Linear Units (ELUs)](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1511.07289/) (2015)
- [EEGNet: A Compact Convolutional Network for EEG-based Brain-Computer Interfaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1611.08024/) (2016)
- [CayleyNets: Graph Convolutional Neural Networks with Complex Rational Spectral Filters](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1705.07664/) (2017)
- [Transformer-based Spatial-Temporal Feature Learning for EEG Decoding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.11170/) (2021)
- [EEG-Based Emotion Recognition Using Regularized Graph Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.07835/) (2019)
- [EEG-TCNet: An Accurate Temporal Convolutional Network for Embedded Motor-Imagery Brain-Machine Interfaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.00622/) (2020)
- [TSception: Capturing Temporal Dynamics and Spatial Asymmetry from EEG for Emotion Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.02935/) (2021)
- [GCNs-Net: A Graph Convolutional Neural Network Approach for Decoding Time-resolved EEG Motor Imagery Signals](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.08924/) (2020)
- [Well-classified Examples are Underestimated in Classification with Deep Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.06537/) (2021)
- [Brain State Flexibility Accompanies Motor-Skill Acquisition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1701.07646/) (2017)
- [DeepNoise: Signal and Noise Disentanglement based on Classifying Fluorescent Microscopy Images via Deep Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.05772/) (2022)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Decoding gait dynamics from EEG signals presents significant challenges due to the complex spatial dependencies of motor processes, the need for accurate temporal and spectral feature extraction, and the scarcity of high-quality gait EEG datasets. To address these issues, we propose EEG2GAIT, a novel hierarchical graph-based model that captures multi-level spatial embeddings of EEG channels using a Hierarchical Graph Convolutional Network (GCN) Pyramid. To further improve decoding performance, we introduce a Hybrid Temporal-Spectral Reward (HTSR) loss function, which integrates time-domain, frequency-domain, and reward-based loss components. In addition, we contribute a new Gait-EEG Dataset (GED), consisting of synchronized EEG and lower-limb joint angle data collected from 50 participants across two laboratory visits. Extensive experiments demonstrate that EEG2GAIT with HTSR achieves superior performance on the GED dataset, reaching a Pearson correlation coefficient (r) of 0.959, a coefficient of determination of 0.914, and a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 0.193. On the MoBI dataset, EEG2GAIT likewise consistently outperforms existing methods, achieving an r of 0.779, a coefficient of determination of 0.597, and an MAE of 4.384. Statistical analyses confirm that these improvements are significant compared to all prior models. Ablation studies further validate the contributions of the hierarchical GCN modules and the proposed HTSR loss, while saliency analysis highlights the involvement of motor-related brain regions in decoding tasks. Collectively, these findings underscore EEG2GAIT's potential for advancing brain-computer interface applications, particularly in lower-limb rehabilitation and assistive technologies.