TY - JOUR T1 - A novel P300-based brain-computer interface stimulus presentation paradigm: moving beyond rows and columns. JF - Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology Y1 - 2010 A1 - Townsend, G. A1 - LaPallo, B. K. A1 - Chadwick B. Boulay A1 - Krusienski, D. J. A1 - Frye, G. E. A1 - Hauser, C. K. A1 - Schwartz, N. E. A1 - Theresa M Vaughan A1 - Jonathan Wolpaw A1 - Sellers, E. W. KW - brain-computer interface KW - brain-machine interface KW - EEG KW - event-related potential KW - P300 KW - Rehabilitation AB - OBJECTIVE: An electroencephalographic brain-computer interface (BCI) can provide a non-muscular means of communication for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or other neuromuscular disorders. We present a novel P300-based BCI stimulus presentation - the checkerboard paradigm (CBP). CBP performance is compared to that of the standard row/column paradigm (RCP) introduced by Farwell and Donchin (1988). METHODS: Using an 8x9 matrix of alphanumeric characters and keyboard commands, 18 participants used the CBP and RCP in counter-balanced fashion. With approximately 9-12 min of calibration data, we used a stepwise linear discriminant analysis for online classification of subsequent data. RESULTS: Mean online accuracy was significantly higher for the CBP, 92%, than for the RCP, 77%. Correcting for extra selections due to errors, mean bit rate was also significantly higher for the CBP, 23 bits/min, than for the RCP, 17 bits/min. Moreover, the two paradigms produced significantly different waveforms. Initial tests with three advanced ALS participants produced similar results. Furthermore, these individuals preferred the CBP to the RCP. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the CBP is markedly superior to the RCP in performance and user acceptability. SIGNIFICANCE: The CBP has the potential to provide a substantially more effective BCI than the RCP. This is especially important for people with severe neuromuscular disabilities. VL - 121 UR - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20347387 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Toward a high-throughput auditory P300-based brain-computer interface. JF - Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology Y1 - 2009 A1 - Klobassa, D. S. A1 - Theresa M Vaughan A1 - Peter Brunner A1 - Schwartz, N. E. A1 - Jonathan Wolpaw A1 - Neuper, C. A1 - Sellers, E. W. KW - brain-computer interface KW - brain-machine interface KW - EEG KW - event-related potential KW - P300 KW - Rehabilitation AB - OBJECTIVE: Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology can provide severely disabled people with non-muscular communication. For those most severely disabled, limitations in eye mobility or visual acuity may necessitate auditory BCI systems. The present study investigates the efficacy of the use of six environmental sounds to operate a 6x6 P300 Speller. METHODS: A two-group design was used to ascertain whether participants benefited from visual cues early in training. Group A (N=5) received only auditory stimuli during all 11 sessions, whereas Group AV (N=5) received simultaneous auditory and visual stimuli in initial sessions after which the visual stimuli were systematically removed. Stepwise linear discriminant analysis determined the matrix item that elicited the largest P300 response and thereby identified the desired choice. RESULTS: Online results and offline analyses showed that the two groups achieved equivalent accuracy. In the last session, eight of 10 participants achieved 50% or more, and four of these achieved 75% or more, online accuracy (2.8% accuracy expected by chance). Mean bit rates averaged about 2 bits/min, and maximum bit rates reached 5.6 bits/min. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that an auditory P300 BCI is feasible, that reasonable classification accuracy and rate of communication are achievable, and that the paradigm should be further evaluated with a group of severely disabled participants who have limited visual mobility. SIGNIFICANCE: With further development, this auditory P300 BCI could be of substantial value to severely disabled people who cannot use a visual BCI. VL - 120 UR - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19574091 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - A P300-based brain-computer interface for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. JF - Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology Y1 - 2008 A1 - Nijboer, F. A1 - Sellers, E. W. A1 - Mellinger, J. A1 - Jordan, M. A. A1 - Matuz, T. A1 - Adrian Furdea A1 - S Halder A1 - Mochty, U. A1 - Krusienski, D. J. A1 - Theresa M Vaughan A1 - Jonathan Wolpaw A1 - Niels Birbaumer A1 - Kübler, A. KW - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis KW - brain-computer interface KW - electroencephalogram KW - event-related potentials KW - P300 KW - Rehabilitation AB - OBJECTIVE: The current study evaluates the efficacy of a P300-based brain-computer interface (BCI) communication device for individuals with advanced ALS. METHODS: Participants attended to one cell of a N x N matrix while the N rows and N columns flashed randomly. Each cell of the matrix contained one character. Every flash of an attended character served as a rare event in an oddball sequence and elicited a P300 response. Classification coefficients derived using a stepwise linear discriminant function were applied to the data after each set of flashes. The character receiving the highest discriminant score was presented as feedback. RESULTS: In Phase I, six participants used a 6 x 6 matrix on 12 separate days with a mean rate of 1.2 selections/min and mean online and offline accuracies of 62% and 82%, respectively. In Phase II, four participants used either a 6 x 6 or a 7 x 7 matrix to produce novel and spontaneous statements with a mean online rate of 2.1 selections/min and online accuracy of 79%. The amplitude and latency of the P300 remained stable over 40 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: Participants could communicate with the P300-based BCI and performance was stable over many months. SIGNIFICANCE: BCIs could provide an alternative communication and control technology in the daily lives of people severely disabled by ALS. VL - 119 UR - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18571984 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Toward enhanced P300 speller performance. JF - Journal of neuroscience methods Y1 - 2008 A1 - Krusienski, D. J. A1 - Sellers, E. W. A1 - Dennis J. McFarland A1 - Theresa M Vaughan A1 - Jonathan Wolpaw KW - brain-computer interface KW - event related potentials KW - P300 speller KW - stepwise linear discriminant analysis AB - This study examines the effects of expanding the classical P300 feature space on the classification performance of data collected from a P300 speller paradigm [Farwell LA, Donchin E. Talking off the top of your head: toward a mental prosthesis utilizing event-related brain potentials. Electroenceph Clin Neurophysiol 1988;70:510-23]. Using stepwise linear discriminant analysis (SWLDA) to construct a classifier, the effects of spatial channel selection, channel referencing, data decimation, and maximum number of model features are compared with the intent of establishing a baseline not only for the SWLDA classifier, but for related P300 speller classification methods in general. By supplementing the classical P300 recording locations with posterior locations, online classification performance of P300 speller responses can be significantly improved using SWLDA and the favorable parameters derived from the offline comparative analysis. VL - 167 UR - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17822777 ER -