Recognition of EEG Features in Autism Disorder Using SWT and Fisher Linear Discriminant Analysis

Background/Objectives: An ASD diagnosis from EEG is challenging due to non-stationary, low-SNR signals and small cohorts. We propose a compact, interpretable pipeline that pairs a shift-invariant Stationary Wavelet Transform (SWT) with Fisher’s Linear Discriminant (FLDA) as a supervised projection method, delivering band-level insight and subject-wise evaluation suitable for resource-constrained clinics. Methods: EEG from the KAU dataset (eight ASD, eight controls; 256 Hz) was decomposed with SWT (db4). We retained levels 3, 4, and 6 (γ/β/θ) as features. FLDA learned a low-dimensional discriminant subspace, followed by a linear decision rule. Evaluation was conducted using a subject-wise 70/30 split (no subject overlap) with accuracy, precision, recall, F1, and confusion matrices. Results: The β band (Level 4) achieved the best performance (accuracy/precision/recall/F1 = 0.95), followed by γ (0.92) and θ (0.85). Despite partial overlap in FLDA scores, the projection maximized between-class separation relative to within-class variance, yielding robust linear decisions. Conclusions: Unlike earlier FLDA-only pipelines and wavelet–entropy–ANN approaches, our study (1) employs SWT (undecimated, shift-invariant) rather than DWT to stabilize sub-band features on short resting segments, (2) uses FLDA as a supervised projection to mitigate small-sample covariance pathologies before classification, (3) provides band-specific discriminative insight (β > γ/θ) under a subject-wise protocol, and (4) targets low-compute deployment. These choices yield a reproducible baseline with competitive accuracy and clear clinical interpretability. Future work will benchmark kernel/regularized discriminants and lightweight deep models as cohort size and compute permit.