A practical, intuitive brain–computer interface for communicating ‘yes’ or ‘no’ by listening

Abstract

Objective Previous work has shown that it is possible to build an EEG-based binary brain-computer interface system (BCI) driven purely by shifts of attention to auditory stimuli. However, previous studies used abrupt, abstract stimuli that are often perceived as harsh and unpleasant, and whose lack of inherent meaning may make the interface unintuitive and difficult for beginners. We aimed to establish whether we could transition to a system based on more natural, intuitive stimuli (spoken words “yes” and “no”) without loss of performance, and whether the system could be used by people in the locked-in state. Methodology We performed a counterbalanced, interleaved within-subject comparison between an auditory streaming BCI that used beep stimuli, and one that used word stimuli. Fourteen healthy volunteers performed two sessions each, on separate days. We also collected preliminary data from two subjects with advanced ALS, who used the word-based system to answer a set of simple yes-no questions. Main Results The N1, N2 and P3 event-related potentials elicited by words varied more between subjects than those elicited by beeps. However, the difference between responses to attended and unattended stimuli was more consistent with words than beeps. Healthy subjects’ performance with word stimuli (mean 77% ± 3.3 s.e.) was slightly but not significantly better than their performance with beep stimuli (mean 73% ± 2.8 s.e.). The two subjects with ALS used the word-based BCI to answer questions with a level of accuracy similar to that of the healthy subjects. Significance Since performance using word stimuli was at least as good as performance using beeps, we recommend that auditory streaming BCI systems be built with word stimuli to make the system more pleasant and intuitive. Our preliminary data show that word-based streaming BCI is a promising tool for communication by people who are locked in.

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)-based eyes-closed brain-computer interface (BCI) using prefrontal cortex activation due to mental arithmetic

“…Previous studies introduced non-visual BCIs such as auditory and tactile BCI for patients with ocular dysfunction404142434445464748. Recently, the EC BCI paradigm was newly proposed based on the SSVEP28 or event-related potentials (ERP)29.…”

P300-based brain-computer interface (BCI) event-related potentials (ERPs): People with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) vs. age-matched controls

“…Cooperman, 1974, Hall, 2003, Hayashi and Oppenheimer, 2003, Murguialday et al, 2011) and could impair use of visual BCIs in some people (McCane et al, 2014). Tactile and auditory P300 BCIs have been explored for those individuals with vision problems (Hill et al, 2014, Severens et al, 2014). All of these studies indicate that P300 BCIs might be useful to people with ALS as their disease advances and they lose the ability to use conventional assistive communication devices, all of which require some measure of muscle control.…”

The Berlin Brain-Computer Interface: Progress Beyond Communication and Control

“…By voluntarily acquiring certain mental states, the user of such a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) could communicate or control a technical device while circumventing the need for any muscular activity (Dornhege et al, 2007; Wolpaw and Wolpaw, 2012). Clinical application has been the principal goal of BCI research for about four decades (Elbert et al, 1980; Kübler et al, 2005; Shih et al, 2012; Faller et al, 2014; Gallegos-Ayala et al, 2014; Hill et al, 2014; Morone et al, 2015; Soekadar et al, 2015). …”