Objective Matching pursuit algorithm(MAP),for its good parametric characterization,was applied in epileptic electroencephalography(EEG) to study time-frequency distribution.Methods Simulation experiment of time-frequency analysis was carried out to verify the matching pursuit algorithm s superiority on frequency resolution and parametric characterization.Fourier transform,Wigner-Ville distribution and matching pursuit algorithm were applied to the time-frequency analysis on normal EEG and epileptic EEG to study epileptic discharge in the time-frequency plane and the results were compared.Results Simulation results showed that the matching pursuit algorithm obtained a better time-frequency distribution.Distributions of epileptic EEG and normal EEG had significant difference in time-frequency plane.Conclusion Time-frequency analysis based on matching pursuit can better reveal the EEG characteristics. Key words: Matching pursuit; Time-frequency analysis; Epilepsy; Short time Fourier transform; Wigner-Ville distribution