# The Deep-Match Framework for Event-Related Potential Detection in EEG

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.20258 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.20258/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 6 of its 43 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 11 Mar 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 6 of 6)

- [Delving Deep into Rectifiers: Surpassing Human-Level Performance on ImageNet Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1502.01852/) (2015)
- [Thought2Text: Text Generation from EEG Signal using Large Language Models (LLMs)](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.07507/) (2024)
- [Study of cognitive component of auditory attention to natural speech events](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.10543/) (2023)
- [Machine Intelligence on the Edge: Interpretable Cardiac Pattern Localisation Using Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.21652/) (2025)
- [In-ear ECG Signal Enhancement with Denoising Convolutional Autoencoders](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.05891/) (2024)
- [Single-word Auditory Attention Decoding Using Deep Learning Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.19793/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Reliable detection of event-related potentials (ERPs) at the single-trial level remains a major challenge due to the low signal-to-noise ratio EEG recordings. In this work, we investigate whether incorporating prior knowledge about ERP templates into deep learning models can improve detection performance. We employ the Deep-Match framework for ERP detection using multi-channel EEG signals. The model is trained in two stages. First, an encoder-decoder architecture is trained to reconstruct input EEG signals, enabling the network to learn compact signal representations. In the second stage, the decoder is replaced with a detection module, and the network is fine-tuned for ERP identification. Two model variants are evaluated: a standard model with randomly initialized filters and a Deep-MF model in which input kernels are initialized using ERP templates. Model performance is assessed on a single-trial ERP detection task using leave-one-subject-out validation. The proposed Deep-MF model slightly outperforms the detector with standard kernel initialization for most held-out subjects. Despite substantial inter-subject variability, Deep-MF achieves a higher average F1-score (0.37) compared to the standard network (0.34), indicating improved robustness to cross-subject differences. The best performance obtained by Deep-MF reaches an F1-score of 0.71, exceeding the maximum score achieved by the standard model (0.59). These results demonstrate that ERP-informed kernel initialization can provide consistent improvements in subject-independent single-trial ERP detection. Overall, the findings highlight the potential of integrating domain knowledge with deep learning architectures for EEG analysis. The proposed approach represents a step toward practical wearable EEG and passive brain-computer interface systems capable of real-time monitoring of cognitive processes.