fif

name	fif
description	Elekta/MNE FIF (.fif) — MEG / EEG native format
layer	L0
group	consumer_eeg
metadata	{"tags":["io","fif","mne","elekta","neuromag","meg"],"formats":[".fif"],"modalities":["meg","eeg"]}

FIF — Elekta/MNE Native

Format Overview

FIF is the Neuromag / Elekta MEG vendor format and the MNE-Python canonical file format. Most MEG labs and many EEG labs using MNE export FIF.

Loader

Primary: mne.io.read_raw_fif(path, preload=True).

Common Pitfalls

• Maxfilter applied vs not. Check info["proc_history"]; raw MEG vs tSSS-processed are different.
• File splitting. Long recordings split into *.fif, *-1.fif, ...; MNE handles via the link annotations.
• EEG-in-FIF gotcha. Some labs save EEG-only as FIF; channel naming remains "EEG NNN" instead of 10-20.

EasyBCI Path

- load:fif

References

1. Gramfort, A. et al. (2013). MEG and EEG data analysis with MNE-Python. Frontiers in Neuroscience 7: 267. doi:10.3389/fnins.2013.00267.

Boundary

• edf: clinical EEG.
• brainvision: vendor EEG.
• eeglab_set: MATLAB EEGLAB.