{
  "abstract": "With the rapid advancement of clinical neuroscience and Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs), there is an increasing demand for convenient, user-friendly EEG recording methods suitable for diverse environments, including mobile and home-based settings. Traditional gel-based EEG systems, while reliable, are inconvenient and time-consuming, whereas dry electrode systems tend to suffer from elevated noise levels. In this study, we investigated a novel methodological manipulation aimed at enhancing dry electrode signal quality: wetting the hair directly with tap water to improve scalp electrode conductivity. To this end, we recruited 22 healthy participants and compared their resting-state (RS) EEG activity across three experimental conditions (dry, semi-dry, and gel) within a single-session design. Specifically, we analyzed electrode impedance, spectral power (SP), and functional connectivity (FC). Our results show that basic hair-wetting substantially improved mean electrode impedance by 75.7% relative to the dry condition, reduced the proportion of bad channels from approximately 40% to 15%, and increased spectral-power similarity with gel recordings by 7.7% during eyes-closed recordings, and improved FC similarity by approximately 56-70% across frequency bands. Although this method does not fully match the signal quality of traditional gel-based systems, it represents a promising compromise, enhancing EEG data quality under suboptimal conditions. This approach offers a practical and non-invasive means to improve EEG signal quality, ultimately expanding real-world applications of EEG.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Center for Biomedical Imaging, University of Geneva"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 8,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Y. Huang"
    },
    {
      "name": "V. Ferat"
    },
    {
      "name": "A. Michela"
    },
    {
      "name": "C. Colangelo"
    },
    {
      "name": "K. Senziani"
    },
    {
      "name": "L. Castonguay"
    },
    {
      "name": "S. Vulliemoz"
    },
    {
      "name": "T. Ros"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0tn6hh0667shk.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.09.21.753100",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.21.753100v1.full",
  "id": "0tn6hh0667shk",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.21.753100v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "neuroscience"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2805|EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214591304",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.21.753100v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-21",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0tn6hh0667shk.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:24:45Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.09.21.753100",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.21.753100v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:neuroscience",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "The Dry Truth: Hair-Wetting Improves Dry Electrode EEG Signal Quality",
  "title_text": "The Dry Truth: Hair-Wetting Improves Dry Electrode EEG Signal Quality",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:24:45Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0tn6hh0667shk",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}