Brain Computer Interfacing

Brain Computer Interfacing Seminar Report 2011
SEMINAR REPORT ON
BRAIN COMPUTER INTERFACING
BY
ASHISH VISWANATH PRAKASH
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND
COMMUNICATION
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
CUSAT
1ULY 2011
1
Dept. of ECE College of Engineering
ABSTRACT
A brain-machine interface is a communication sstem that !oes not !epen! on the brains normal
output path"as of peripheral ner#es an! muscles. It is a ne" communication lin$ bet"een a
functioning human brain an! the outsi!e "orl!. %hese are electronic interfaces "ith the brain&
"hich has the abilit to sen! an! recei#e signals from the brain. B'I uses brain acti#it to
comman!& control& actuate an! communicate "ith the "orl! !irectl through brain integration
"ith peripheral !e#ices an! sstems. %he signals from the brain are ta$en to the computer #ia the
implants for !ata entr "ithout an !irect brain inter#ention. B'I transforms mental !ecisions
an!(or reactions into control signals b anal)ing the bioelectrical brain acti#it.
*hile lin$ing the brain !irectl "ith machines "as once consi!ere! science fiction& a!#ances
o#er the past fe" ears ha#e ma!e it increasingl #iable. It is an area of intense research "ith
almost limitless possibilities. %he human brain is the most comple+ phsical sstem "e $no" of&
an! "e "oul! ha#e to un!erstan! its operation in great !etail to buil! such a !e#ice. An
imme!iate goal of brain-machine interface stu! is to pro#i!e a "a for people "ith !amage!
sensor(motor functions to use their brain to control artificial !e#ices an! restore lost
capabilities. B combining the latest !e#elopments in computer technolog an! hi-tech
engineering& paral)e! persons "ill be able to control a motori)e! "heel chair& computer painter&
or robotic arm b thought alone. In this era "here !rastic !iseases are getting common it is a
boon if "e can !e#elop it to its full potential. Recent technical an! theoretical a!#ances& ha#e
!emonstrate! the ultimate feasibilit of this concept for a "i!e range of space-base!
applications. Besi!es the clinical purposes such an interface "oul! fin! imme!iate applications
in #arious technolog pro!ucts also.
,e"or!s- Brain&.euro-electronics&Electro encephalograph& interfacing&
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INTRODUCTION
/icture a time "hen humans see in the 01 an! IR portions of the electromagnetic spectrum& or
hear speech on the nois flight !ec$ of an aircraft carrier2 or "hen sol!iers communicate b
thought alone. Imagine a time "hen the human brain has its o"n "ireless mo!em so that instea!
of acting on thoughts& "ar fighters ha#e thoughts that act. Imagine that one !a "e "ill be able
to !o"nloa! #ast amounts of $no"le!ge !irectl to our brain3 So as to cut the length processes
of learning e#erthing from scratch. Instea! of paing to go to uni#ersit "e coul! pa to get a
4$no"le!ge implant4 an! perhaps be able to obtain man lifetimes "orth of $no"le!ge an!
e+pertise in #arious fiel!s at a oung age In the near future& most !e#ices "oul! be
remote(logicall controlle!. Researchers are close to brea$throughs in neural interfaces& meaning
"e coul! soon mesh our min!s "ith machines. %his technolog has the capabilit to impact our
li#es in "as that ha#e been pre#iousl thought possible in onl sci-fi mo#ies.
%here is legitimate scientific interest in the possibilit of connectingbrains an! computers5from
pro!ucing robotic limbs controlle!!irectl b brain acti#it to altering memor an! moo! "ith
implante!electro!es to the far-out prospect of becoming immortal b 6uploa!ing7our min!s into
machines. %his area of in8uir has seen remar$ablea!#ances in recent ears& man of them
aime! at helping the se#erel !isable!to replace lost functions. 9et public un!erstan!ing of this
research isshape! b sensationalistic an! mislea!ing co#erage in the press2 it is colore!b
!eca!es of fantastical science fiction portraals2 an! it is !istorte!b the utopian hopes of a small
but #ocal ban! of enthusiasts "ho !esire to eliminate the boun!aries bet"een brains an!
machines as part of a larger 6transhumanist7 pro:ect
Neuroelectronics
.euroelectronics& sometimes referre! to as neurotechnolog& is the !iscipline that !eals "ith the
interface bet"een the human ner#ous sstem an! electronic !e#ices. It is a highl comple+ an!
inter!isciplinar fiel! "ith contributions from computer science& cogniti#e science& neurosurger
an! biome!ical engineering. .euroelectronics has roughl three relate! branches- ;1<
neuroimaging& ;2< brain-computer interfaces ;BCIs<& an! ;=< electrical neural stimulation. %he
!iscipline e+ists for more than half a centur. >o"e#er& in the last !eca!e significant a!#ances
=
ha#e been ma!e& particularl in neuroimaging& "hich re#olutioni)e! the fiel! b allo"ing
researchers to !irectl monitor brain acti#it !uring e+periments. An! it is pre!icte! that
neuroelectronics& particularl neuroimaging an! brain-computer interfacing& "ill be emploe!
much more in the future.
BCIs& sometimes calle! brain-machine interfaces ;B'Is<& are an emerging neurotechnolog that
translates brain acti#it into comman! signals for e+ternal !e#ices. Research on BCIs began in
the 1?@0s at the 0ni#ersit of California Aos Angeles ;0CAA<. Researchers at 0CAA also
coine! the term brain-computer interface. A BCI establishes a !irect communication path"a
bet"een the brain an! the !e#ice to be controlle!. %he are mainl being !e#elope! for me!ical
reasons& because there is a societal !eman! for technologies "hich help to restore functions of
humans "ith central ner#ous sstem ;C.S<. /atients for "hom a BCI "oul! be useful usuall
ha#e !isabilities in motor function or communication. %his coul! be ;partl< restore! b using a
BCI to steer a motori)e! "heelchair& prosthesis& or b selecting letters on a computer screen "ith
a cursor. In#asi#e or non-in#asi#e electro!es are use! to !etect brain acti#it& "hich is
subse8uentl translate! b a signal processing unit into comman! signals for the e+ternal !e#ice.
%he most common BCI respon!s to specific patterns !etecte! in spatiotemporal EEBs measure!
non-in#asi#el from the scalp. Spatiotemporal EEBs can be controlle! b imagining specific
mo#ements ;Basson C *ar"ic$& 200@<. So& merel b imagining mo#ements one can steer a
"heelchair& prosthesis or a cursor on a computer screen.
%here are roughl three branches in neuroelectronics. Each branch uses !ifferent !e#ices to
interface "ith the brain& an! each of these !e#ices has !ifferent features. %he first branch&
neuroimaging& uses techni8ues such as f'RI& /E%& 'EB or EEB& amongst others& to e+tract
information from the brain to !iagnose !isor!ers or to stu! the brain. %he secon! branch& BCIs&
uses in#asi#e or non-in#asi#e electro!es to e+tract information from the brain& not for !iagnostic
or research purposes& but to control e+ternal !e#ices such as "heelchairs& computers or airplanes.
An! the thir! branch& electrical neural stimulation& uses in#asi#e electro!es to sen! electrical
signals to specific parts of the brain. %he onl !efining feature these three branches ha#e in
common is that the all interface electrical !e#ices "ith the brain& either to e+tract information
from the brain or to sen! electrical signals to the brain.
D
HISTORY
%he brain has been clearl un!erstoo! to be the seat of the min! for less than four centuries. A
number of anatomists& philosophers& an! phsiciansha!& since the !as of the ancient Bree$s&
conclu!e! that the soul "as resi!ent in the hea!. In 1?E0& at the height of interest in cbernetics&
the "or! cborg5short for 6cbernetic organism75"as coine! b researcher 'anfre! E.Clnes
in a paper he co-"rote for the :ournal Astronautics Aroun! the same time& Fac$ E. Steele&a
polmath !octor-engineer-neuroanatomist ser#ing in the 0.S. Air Gorce&
coine! the "or! bionics for the use of principles !eri#e! from li#ing sstems to sol#e
engineering an! !esign problems. But to the most ambitious an! most ra!ical a!#ocates of
merging brains an! machines& such a!#ances are mere chil!Hs pla. %hese so-calle!
transhumanists long for an age "hen human beings "ill lea#e the miser ies an! limits of the
bo! behin!& an! achie#e ne" ecstasies of free!om
an! control- *e "ill sen! feelings an! conscious thoughts !irectl frombrain to brain2 "e "ill
!elete un"ante! memories at "ill2 "e "ill master
comple+ sub:ects b 6!o"nloa!ing7 them !irectl into our min!s2 "e "ill6:ac$ in7 to #irtual
realities2 an! e#entuall& "e "ill be able to 6uploa!7
our personalities into computers or robots& "here the self coul! li#e on in!efinitel.
%he histor of Brain-Computer-Interfaces ;BCI< starts "ith >ans BergerIs!isco#er of the
electrical acti#it of human brain an! the !e#elopment ofelectroencephalograp ;EEB<.Berger
stu!ie! me!icine at the 0ni#ersit of Fena an! recei#e! his !octorate in
1J?@. >e became a professor in 1?0E an! the !irector of the 0ni#ersitIspschiatr an!
neurolog clinic in 1?1?. In 1?2D Berger "as the first one "horecor!e! an EEB from a human
brain. B anal)ing EEBs Berger "as able toi!entif !ifferent "a#es or rhthms "hich are
present in a brain& as the Alpha *a#e ;J K 12 >)<&also $no"n as BergerIs *a#e.
In the 1?J0s& Apostolos Beorgopoulos at Fohns >op$ins 0ni#ersit foun! a mathematical
relationship bet"een the electrical responses of single motor-corte+ neurons in rhesus maca8ue
mon$es an! the !irection that mon$es mo#e! their arms ;base! on a cosine function<. >e also
foun! that !isperse! groups of neurons in !ifferent areas of the brain collecti#el controlle!
L
motor comman!s but "as onl able to recor! the firings of neurons in one area at a time because
of technical limitations impose! b his e8uipment
Prominent research successes
In 1???& researchers le! b Barrett Stanle at >ar#ar! 0ni#ersit !eco!e! neuronal firings to
repro!uce images seen b cats. %he team use! an arra of electro!es embe!!e! in the thalamus
;"hich integrates all of the brainHs sensor input< of sharp-ee! cats. Researchers targete! 1@@
brain cells in the thalamus lateral geniculate nucleus area& "hich !eco!es signals from the retina.
%he cats "ere sho"n eight short mo#ies& an! their neuron firings "ere recor!e!. 0sing
mathematical filters& the researchers !eco!e! the signals to generate mo#ies of "hat the cats sa"
an! "ere able to reconstruct recognisable scenes an! mo#ing ob:ects.
'iguel .icolelis has been a prominent proponent of using multiple electro!es sprea! o#er a
greater area of the brain to obtain neuronal signals to !ri#e a BCI. Such neural ensembles are
sai! to re!uce the #ariabilit in output pro!uce! b single electro!es& "hich coul! ma$e it
!ifficult to operate a BCI
B 2000& the group succee!e! in buil!ing a BCI that repro!uce! o"l mon$e mo#ements "hile
the mon$e operate! a :ostic$ or reache! for foo!.%he BCI operate! in real time an! coul! also
control a separate robot remotel o#er Internet protocol. But the mon$es coul! not see the arm
mo#ing an! !i! not recei#e an fee!bac$& a so-calle! open-loop BCI Mther labs that !e#elop
BCIs an! algorithms that !eco!e neuron signals inclu!e Fohn Donoghue from Bro"n 0ni#ersit&
An!re" Sch"art) from the 0ni#ersit of /ittsburgh an! Richar! An!ersen from Caltech
DonoghueIs group reporte! training rhesus mon$es to use a BCI to trac$ #isual targets on a
computer screen "ith or "ithout assistance of a :ostic$ ;close!-loop BCI<.Sch"art)Is group
E
create! a BCI for three-!imensional trac$ing in #irtual realit an! also repro!uce! BCI control in
a robotic arm
Cell-culture BCIs
Research into techni8ues for stimulating an! recor!ing from in!i#i!ual neurons gro"n on
semicon!uctor chips is sometimes referre! to as neuroelectronics or neurochips.
*orl! first- .eurochip !e#elope! b Caltech researchers Ferome /ine an! 'ichael 'aher
De#elopment of the first "or$ing neurochip "as claime! b a Caltech team le! b Ferome /ine
an! 'ichael 'aher in 1??@. %he Caltech chip ha! room for 1E neurons In 200=& a team le! b
%heo!ore Berger at the 0ni#ersit of Southern California starte! "or$ on a neurochip !esigne!
to function as an artificial or prosthetic hippocampus. %he neurochip "as !esigne! to function in
rat brains an! is inten!e! as a prototpe for the e#entual !e#elopment of higher-brain prosthesis
%homas De'arse at the 0ni#ersit of Glori!a use! a culture of 2L&000 neurons ta$en from a ratIs
brain to fl a G-22 fighter :et aircraft simulator.After collection& the cortical neurons "ere
culture! in a petri !ish an! rapi!l begin to reconnect themsel#es to form a li#ing neural
net"or$. %he cells "ere arrange! o#er a gri! of E0 electro!es an! traine! to control the pitch an!
a" functions of the simulator
READING THE BRAIN - NEUROIMAGING IN BCIS
Neuroimaging definition
6.euroimaging inclu!es the use of #arious techni8ues to either !irectl or in!irectl image
thestructure& function& or pharmacolog of the brain. It is a relati#el ne" !iscipline "ithin
me!icinean! neuroscience.7 N*I,IO.IP
Direct Neural Contact
%his is the most accurate metho! of recor!ing potentials occuring in the brain as it has
!irectcontact to e#er neuron in the brain& e.g. b using nanorobots. .ee!less to sa that this
metho! ishighl in#asi#e an! impracticable "ith respect to our current technolog. >o"e#er&
"ith ongoinga!#ances in nanotechnolog this metho! might become realit.
Electroencephalography (EEG)
%his proce!ure is the first non-in#asi#e neuroimaging techni8ue !isco#ere!. It measures
theelectrical acti#it of the brain. Due to its ease of use& cost an! high temporal resolution this
metho!is the most "i!el use! one in BCIs no"a!as. >o"e#er& in practice EEBs are highl
susceptible tonoise an! thus re8uire a significant amount of user training in or!er to be operable
@
in a BCI.Auc$il& recent research at the Graunhofer Societ N*I,IOBCIP has sho"n that this
problem can beo#ercome b using neural net"or$s to shift the learning o#erhea! from the
human to the computer.
Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
%hough similar to the EEB in that it is a non-e#asi#e technolog the 'EB is a much ne"er
an!more accurate technolog. Instea! of measuring the electrical acti#it in the brain this
technologrecor!s magnetic fiel!s pro!uce! b it. %he main !ra"bac$s of this technolog are its
highere8uirements in e8uipment.
60sing 'EB re8uires a room fille! "ith super-con!ucting magnets an! giant super-cooling
heliumtan$s surroun!e! b shiel!e! "alls.7
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
%his techni8ue measures the haemo!namic response ;bloo! flo" an! bloo! o+genation<
relate! toneural acti#it in the brain b the use of 'RI ;'agnetic Resonance Imaging formerl
$no"n as'agnetic Resonance %omograph 'R%<. %he fact that there is a correlation bet"een
neural acti#itan! the brainHs haemo!namics ma$es the f'RI a neuroimaging tool. In contrast
to the 'RI "hichstu!ies the brainHs structure this metho! stu!ies the brainHs function. As this
metho! re8uires 'RItechnolog it nee!s #er special e8uipment an! thus is 8uite costl.
BLOCK DIAGRAM
J
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BLOCK DESCRIPTION
%he B'I consists of se#eral components- 1.the implant !e#ice& or chronic multi-electro!e arra&
2.the signal recor!ing an! processing section& =.an e+ternal !e#ice the sub:ect uses to pro!uce
an! control motion an! D.a fee!bac$ section to the sub:ect. %he first component is an implante!
arra of microelectro!es into the frontal an! parietal lobes5areas of the brain in#ol#e! in
pro!ucing multiple output comman!s to control comple+ muscle mo#ements. %his !e#ice recor!
action potentials of in!i#i!ual neurons an! then represent the neural signal using a rate co!e .%he
secon! component consists of spi$e !etection algorithms& neural enco!ing an! !eco!ing
sstems& !ata ac8uisition an! real time processing sstems etc .A high performance DS/
architecture is use! for this purpose. %he e+ternal !e#ice that the sub:ect uses ma be a robotic
arm& a "heel chair etc. !epen!ing upon the application. Gee!bac$ is an important factor in
BCIQs. In the BCIQs base! on the operant con!itioning approach& fee!bac$ training is essential
for the user to ac8uire the control of his or her EEB response. >o"e#er& fee!bac$ can spee! up
the learning process an! impro#e performance.
the three tpes of BCI. %hese tpes are !eci!e! on the basis of the techni8ue use! for the
interface. Each of these techni8ues has some a!#antages as "ell as some !isa!#antages.
Invasive BCI:
In#asi#e BCI are !irectl implante! into the gre matter of the brain !uring neurosurger. %he
pro!uce the highest 8ualit signals of BCI !e#ices . In#asi#e BCIs has targete! repairing
!amage! sight an! pro#i!ing ne" functionalit to paral)e! people. But these BCIs are prone to
buil!ing up of scar-tissue "hich causes the signal to become "ea$er an! e#en lost as bo! reacts
to a foreign ob:ect in the brain
Partially Invasive BCI:
/artiall in#asi#e BCI !e#ices are implante! insi!e the s$ull but rest outsi!e the brain rather than
ami!st the gre matter. %he pro!uce better resolution signals than non-in#asi#e BCIs "here the
bone tissue of the cranium !eflects an! !eforms signals an! ha#e a lo"er ris$ of forming scar-
tissue in the brain than full-in#asi#e BCIs.
Electrocorticograph;ECoB< uses the same technolog as non-in#asi#e electroencephalograph&
but the electro!es are embe!!e! in a thin plastic pa! that is place! abo#e the corte+& beneath the
!ura mater. ECoB technologies "ere first trale! in humans in 200D b Eric Aeuthar!t an! Daniel
'oran from *ashington 0ni#ersit in St Aouis. In a later trial& the researchers enable! a teenage
bo to pla Space In#a!ers using his ECoB implant. %his research in!icates that it is !ifficult to
pro!uce $inematic BCI !e#ices "ith more than one !imension of control using ECoB.
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Non-Invasive BCI :
As "ell as in#asi#e e+periments& there ha#e also been e+periments in humans using non-in#asi#e
neuroimaging technologies as interfaces. Signals recor!e! in this "a ha#e been use! to po"er
muscle implants an! restore partial mo#ement in an e+perimental #olunteer. Although the are
eas to "ear& non-in#asi#e implants pro!uce poor signal resolution because the s$ull !ampens
signals& !ispersing an! blurring the electromagnetic "a#es create! b the neurons. Although the
"a#es can still be !etecte! it is more !ifficult to !etermine the area of the brain that create! them
or the actions of in!i#i!ual neurons
MAIN PRINCIPLE
'ain principle behin! this interface is the bioelectrical acti#it of ner#es an! muscles. It is no"
"ell establishe! that the human bo!& "hich is compose! of li#ing tissues& can be consi!ere! as
a po"er station generating multiple electrical signals "ith t"o internal sources& namel muscles
an! ner#es.
*e $no" that brain is the most important part of human bo!. It controls all the emotions an!
functions of the human bo!. %he brain is compose! of millions of neurons. %hese neurons "or$
together in comple+ logic an! pro!uce thought an! signals that control our bo!ies. *hen the
neuron fires& or acti#ates& there is a #oltage change across the cell& ;R100m#< "hich can be rea!
through a #ariet of !e#ices. *hen "e "ant to ma$e a #oluntar action& the comman! generates
from the frontal lobe. Signals are generate! on the surface of the brain. %hese electric signals are
!ifferent in magnitu!e an! fre8uenc.
B monitoring an! anal)ing these signals "e can un!erstan! the "or$ing of brain. *hen "e
imagine oursel#es !oing something& small signals generate from !ifferent areas of the brain.
%hese signals are not large enough to tra#el !o"n the spine an! cause actual mo#ement. %hese
small signals are& ho"e#er& measurable. A neuron !epolari)es to generate an impulse2 this action
causes small changes in the electric fiel! aroun! the neuron. %hese changes are measure! as 0
;no impulse< or 1 ;impulse generate!< b the electro!es. *e can control the brain functions b
artificiall pro!ucing these signals an! sen!ing them to respecti#e parts. %his is through
stimulation of that part of the brain& "hich is responsible for a particular function using
implante! electro!es.
BMI COMPONENTS
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A brain-machine interface ;B'I< in its scientific interpretation is a combination of se#eral
har!"are an! soft"are components tring to enable its user to communicate "ith a computer b
intentionall altering his or her brain "a#es. %he tas$ of the har!"are part is to recor! the
brain"a#esK in the form of the EEB signal K of a human sub:ect& an! the soft"are has to anal)e
that !ata. In other "or!s& the har!"are consists of an EEB machine an! a number of electro!es
scattere! o#er the sub:ectQs s$ull. %he EEB machine& "hich is connecte! to the electro!es #ia
thin "ires& recor!s the brain-electrical acti#it of the sub:ect& iel!ing a multi-!imensional
;analog or !igital< output. %he #alues in each !imension ;also calle! channel< represent the
relati#e !ifferences in the #oltage potential measure! at t"o electro!e sites.
%he soft"are sstem has to rea!& !igiti)e ;in the case of an analog EEB machine<& an!
preprocess the EEB !ata ;separatel for each channel<& Sun!erstan! the sub:ectQs intentions&
an! generate appropriate output. %o interpret the !ata& the stream of EEB #alues is cut into
successi#e segments& transforme! into a stan!ar!i)e! representation& an! processe! "ith the help
of a classifier. %here are se#eral !ifferent possibilities for the reali)ation of a classifier2 one
approach K in#ol#ing the use of an artificial neural net"or$ ;A..< K has become the metho! of
choice in recent ears.
. IMPLANT DEVICE
%he EEB is recor!e! "ith electro!es& "hich are place! on the scalp. Electro!es are small plates&
"hich con!uct electricit. %he pro#i!e the electrical contact bet"een the s$in an! the EEB
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recor!ing apparatus b transforming the ionic current on the s$in to the electrical current in the
"ires. %o impro#e the stabilit of the signal& the outer laer of the s$in calle! stratum corneum
shoul! be at least partl remo#e! un!er the electro!e. Electrolte gel is applie! bet"een the
electro!e an! the s$in in or!er to pro#i!e goo! electrical contact.
Gigure D.An arra of microelectro!es
0suall small metal-plate electro!es are use! in the EEB recor!ing. .eural implants can be use!
to regulate electric signals in the brain an! restore it to e8uilibrium. %he implants must be
monitore! closel because there is a potential for almost anthing "hen intro!ucing foreign
signals into the brain.
%here are a fe" ma:or problems that must be a!!resse! "hen !e#eloping neural implants. %hese
must be ma!e out of biocompatible material or insulate! "ith biocompatible material that the
bo! "onQt re:ect an! isolate. %he must be able to mo#e insi!e the s$ull "ith the brain "ithout
causing an !amage to the brain. %he implant must be chemicall inert so that it !oesnQt interact
"ith the hostile en#ironment insi!e the human bo!. All these factors must be a!!resse! in the
case of neural implants2 other"ise it "ill stop sen!ing useful information after a short perio! of
time.
%here are simple single "ire electro!es "ith a number of !ifferent coatings to comple+ three-
!imensional arras of electro!es& "hich are encase! in insulating biomaterials. Implant re:ection
an! isolation is a problem that is being a!!resse! b !e#eloping biocompatible materials to coat
or incase the implant.
Mne option among the biocompatible materials is %eflon coating that protects the implant from
the bo!. Another option is a cell resistant snthetic polmer li$e pol#inl alcohol. %o $eep the
implant from mo#ing in the brain it is necessar to ha#e a fle+ible electro!e that "ill mo#e "ith
the brain insi!e the s$ull. %his can ma$e it !ifficult to implant the electro!e. Dipping the micro
!e#ice in polethlene glcol& "hich causes the !e#ice to become less fle+ible& can sol#e this
problem
1=
problem. Mnce in contact "ith the tissue this coating 8uic$l !issol#es. %his allo"s eas
implantation of a #er fle+ible implant.
%hree-!imensional arras of electro!es are also un!er !e#elopment. %hese !e#ices are
constructe! as t"o-!imensional sheet an! then bent to form =D arra. %hese can be constructe!
using a polmer substrate that is then fitte! "ith metal lea!s. %he are !ifficult to implement& but
gi#e a much great range of stimulation or sensing than simple ones.
Gigure L. Bloc$ !iagram of the neurotrophic electro!es for implantation in human patients
.
A microscopic glass cone contains a neurotrophic factor that in!uces neurites to gro" into the
cone& "here the contact one of se#eral gol! recor!ing "ires. .eurites that are in!uce! to gro"
into the glass cone ma$e highl stable contacts "ith recor!ing "ires. Signal con!itioning an!
telemetric electronics are full implante! un!er the s$in of the scalp. An implante! transmitter
;%T< sen!s signals to an e+ternal recei#er ;RT<& "hich is connecte! to a computer.
SIGNAL PROCESSING SECTION
Multichannel Acquisition Systems
Electro!es interface !irectl to the non-in#erting opamp inputs on each channel. At this section
amplification& initial filtering of EEB signal an! possible artifact remo#al ta$es place. Also A(D
con#ersion is ma!e& i.e. the analog EEB signal is !igiti)e!. %he #oltage gain impro#es the
signal-to-noise ratio ;S.R< b re!ucing the rele#ance of electrical noise incurre! in later stages.
/rocesse! signals are time-!i#ision multiple+e! an! sample!.
1D
SPIKE DETECTION
Real time spi$e !etection is an important re8uirement for !e#eloping brain machine interfaces.
Incorporating spi$e !etection "ill allo" the B'I to transmit onl the action potential "a#eforms
an! their respecti#e arri#al times instea! of the sparse& ra" signal in its entiret. %his
compression re!uces the transmitte! !ata rate per channel& thus increasing the number of
channels that ma be monitore! simultaneousl. Spi$e !etection can further re!uce the !ata rate
if spi$e counts are transmitte! instea! of spi$e "a#eforms. Spi$e !etection "ill also be a
necessar first step for an future har!"are implementation of an autonomous spi$e sorter.
Gigure E sho"s its implementation using an application-specific integrate! circuit ;ASIC< "ith
limite! computational resources. A lo" po"er implantable ASIC for !etecting an! transmitting
neural spi$es "ill be an important buil!ing bloc$ for B'Is. A har!"are reali)ation of a spi$e
!etector in a "ireless B'I must operate in real-time& be full autonomous& an! function at
realistic signal-tonoise ratios ;S.Rs<.
An implante! ASIC con!itions signal from e+tra cellular neural electro!es& !igiti)es them& an!
then !etects A/ spi$es. %he spi$e "a#eforms are transmitte! across the s$in to a B'I processor&
"hich sorts the spi$es an! then generates the comman! signals for the prosthesis.
Classical metho!s for remo#ing eeblin$ artifacts can be classifie! into re:ection
metho!s an! subtraction metho!s ND.EP-
U Rejection methods consist of !iscar!ing contaminate! EEB& base! on eitherautomatic or
#isual !etection. %heir success cruciall !epen!s on the 8ualit of the
1L
!etection& an! its use !epen!s also on the specific application for "hich it is use!.%hus& although
for epileptic applications& it can lea! to an unacceptable loss of !ata&for others& li$e a Brain
Computer interface& its use can be a!e8uate.
U Subtraction methods are base! on the assumption that the measure! EEB is a
linearcombination of an original EEB an! a signal cause! b ee mo#ement& calle!
EMB;electrooculogram<. %he EMB is a potential pro!uce! b mo#ement of the ee oreeli!
;Gig. D-D<. %he original EEB is hence reco#ere! b subtracting separatelrecor!e! EMB from the
measure! EEB& using appropriate "eights ;re:ecting theinfluence of the EMB on particular EEB
channels<.
Artifact rejection based on peak elimination.
As pre#ious "or$s ha#e sho"n ND.=P& the presence of artifacts in EEB signalspro!uces a rapi!
increase of energ in forehea! locations Gp1 an! Gp2. %he metho!
!e#elope! here consists of the analsis of these t"o channels b small o#erlapping"in!o"s& in
or!er to chec$ if the energ of the signals surpasses an establishe! blin$threshol!. In case it !oes
it& the samples coming from the corrupte! signal are re:ecte!from all the EEB signals.Despite the
simplicit of this metho!& the results obtaine! ha#e been satisfactor enough to consi!er it as an
initial option for a real-time Brain Computer Interface. It iseas enough to be implemente! on a
lo" comple+it signal processing platform..e#ertheless& this metho! has the incon#enience of
re:ecting some non-corrupte! !ata inother scalp channels& as "ell as in the frontal channels.*ith
the purpose of impro#ing the !ata preser#ation& "e ha#e !e#elope! a similarsstem base! on a
8ua!ratic %ime Gre8uenc Representation of the signal. %his analsista$es a!#antage of the high
resolution of this techni8ue in time an! fre8uenc& for
establishing& after an appropriate training& the !ifferences bet"een a corrupte! EEBsignal an! a
non-corrupte! EEB signal& in or!er to be able of !istinguish an! re:ect theeeblin$ artifact. %his
techni8ue& "hich is base! on energ !istributions& is an alternati#eto the classical artifact
re:ection metho! presente! here& an! it shoul! be consi!ere! in afuture "or$.
Blinking artifact recognition using artificial neural network.
%he metho! propose! b Bogac) an! colleagues& use! a neural base! approach tofin! artifacts in
EEB signals ND.DP. %he input to the neural net"or$ "as not a ra" sample!signal& but !ifferent
coefficients compute! for a "in!o" of one secon! of the signal&
e+pressing some characteristic properties of blin$ing artifacts. D1 coefficients "ere!esigne!.
Some of them "ere !esigne! b the authors an! "ere base! on their $no"le!geabout the artifact
recognition& an! a total of 1D "ere chosen b terms of sensiti#it an!correlation. A large training
1E
set inclu!ing coefficients for o#er 2@000 "in!o"s "as use!&containing !ifferent $in!s of
blin$ing artifacts& pathological an! proper "a#es& an!artifacts cause! b other sources ;e.g. :a"&
muscle<. After"ar!s& three classificationalgorithms "ere teste! an! compare!- $-neighbors& RBG
net"or$s an! bac$ propagationnet"or$s. %he lo"est classification error ;1.D0V< "as obtaine!
for the bac$ propagationnet"or$& "ith a classification time of the test set ;E22@ "in!o"s< of 2
secon!s ND.DP.%his metho! achie#es high classification accurac than$s to t"o factors-
- Aarge training set containing !ifferent $in!s of EEB "a#es.
- %he coefficients !eli#ere! to the net"or$Hs inputs& e+press the characteristic
features of artifacts& since the enco!e large amount of !omain e+pertHs
$no"le!ge.
0nfortunatel& the first factor can be problematic in the use of a Brain computer
Interface.
4. 4. Artifact rejection based in bandpass FIR filters.
%he metho! propose! b Bupta an! colleagues use! a fi+e! ban!pass GIR filter&follo"e! b a
sub:ect specific eeblin$ threshol!& in or!er to remo#e the eeblin$ an!eeball mo#ement
artifacts. %his techni8ue& "hose bloc$ !iagram can be seen in Gig. D-L&consist of ND.1P-
1. /ass the ra" EEB samples obtaine! from analog-to-!igital con#erter through a
!igital ban!pass filter ;B/G< to remo#e slo" baseline !rift.
2. Determine the blin$ threshol! ;1t< for specific sub:ect in brief training session.
=. Compare the absolute sample #alue "ith 1t.
D. If the #alue is e+cee!e! then remo#e . samples from the #icinit of )ero crossing
;.(2 on either si!e of treshol! crossing<.
L. Shift the follo"ing . samples to fill up the gap create! b blin$ remo#al. %hese
gaps "ill& other"ise& grossl !istort the spectrum.
Figure 4-5. Scheme of the propose! sstem.
1@
%he e+periments carrie! out through this scheme& for Gp1 an! Gp2 electro!es
location& pro#i!e! interesting results in eeblin$ artifact re:ection. %his metho! presents
the a!#antage of "or$ing e#en un!er baseline !rift artifacts con!itions& an! also is eas
enough to be implemente! on a lo"-cost !igital signal processor& on a real K time sstem.
.e#ertheless& it fails if the blin$ rate is unnaturall high& an! the training session for each
in!i#i!ual is 8uite long- =0 sec ;E eeblin$s on a a#erage for a normal sub:ect<.
SIGNAL ANALYSIS
Geature e+traction an! classification of EEB are !ealt in this section. In this stage& certain
features are e+tracte! from the preprocesse! an! !igiti)e! EEB signal. In the simplest form a
certain fre8uenc range is selecte! an! the amplitu!e relati#e to some reference le#el measure!
%picall the features are fre8uenc content of the EEB signal< can be calculate! using& for
e+ample& Gast Gourier %ransform ;GG% function<. .o matter "hat features are use!& the goal is to
form !istinct set of features for each mental tas$. If the feature sets representing mental tas$s
o#erlap each other too much& it is #er !ifficult to classif mental tas$s& no matter ho" goo! a
classifier is use!. Mn the other han!& if the feature sets are !istinct enough& an classifier can
classif them. %he features e+tracte! in the pre#ious stage are the input for the classifier.
%he classifier can be anthing from a simple linear mo!el to a comple+ nonlinear neural net"or$
that can be traine! to recogni)e !ifferent mental tas$s. .o"a!as real time processing is use!
"i!el. Real-time applications pro#i!e an action or an ans"er to an e+ternal e#ent in a timel
an! pre!ictable manner. So b using this tpe of sstem "e can get output nearl at the same
time it recei#es input. %elemetr is han!le! b a "earable computer. %he host station accepts the
!ata #ia either a "ireless access point or its o"n !e!icate! ra!io car!.
EEG Signal Pre - Processing.
Mne of the main problems in the automate! EEB analsis is the !etection of the!ifferent $in!s of
interference "a#eforms ;artifacts< a!!e! to the EEB signal !uring therecor!ing sessions. %hese
interference "a#eforms& the artifacts& are an recor!e! electrical potentials not originate! in
brain. %here are four main sources of artifacts emission-
1. EEB e8uipment.
2. Electrical interference e+ternal to the sub:ect an! recor!ing sstem.
1J
=. %he lea!s an! the electro!es.
D. %he sub:ect her(himself- normal electrical acti#it from the heart& eeblin$ing& ees
mo#ement& an! muscles in general.
In case of #isual inspections& the artifacts can be 8uite easil !etecte! b EEBe+perts. >o"e#er&
!uring the automate! analsis these signal patterns often cause seriousmisclassifications thus
re!ucing the clinical usabilit of the automate! anal)ing sstems.Recognition an! elimination
of the artifacts in real K time EEB recor!ings is a comple+tas$& but essential to the !e#elopment
of practical sstems./re#ious "or$s ha#e sho"n that the most se#ere of the artifacts are !ue to
eeblin$s an! eeball mo#ements. A mo#ement of the eeball an! the eeli!s causes achange in
the potential fiel! because of the e+isting potential !ifference of about 100m1bet"een the
cornea an! the retina ND.1P. %his change affects mainl the signals from themost frontal
electro!es ;Gp1 an! Gp2 an! also other frontal electro!es- G=& GD& G@ an!GJ<& an! in!uces in
them man high an! lo" fre8uencies& !epen!ing upon its !urationan! amplitu!e
EEG SIGNAL CLASSIFICATION.
Mscillator states are the most remar$able features of EEB acti#it& because the
reflect not onl the snchroni)ation of massi#e numbers of neurons but also a temporall
or!ere! rhthmicit of acti#ation NL.EP. Different oscillator patterns ma be in!icati#e of
!ifferent information processing states& an! it has been propose! that the oscillator
patterns pla an acti#e role in these states NL.EP& NL.@P. Accor!ing to this #ie"& the
rhthmic snchroni)ation !uring oscillator states can ser#e to enhance perception&
learning& an! the transmission of neuronal signals bet"een !ifferent regions of the brain
Classifier Design:
%he !esign of the classifier is hea#il base! on Christin SchWferIs !esign use! for the Dataset III
of the BCI Competition II. Instea! of using a Baussian multi#ariate Baesian classifier& here "e
use a neural net to obtain the classification for each time instant t. %hose outputs are then
integrate! in time using a "eighte! sum. %he i!ea is simple- outputs "ith lo" confusion shoul!
ha#e higher "eights
EXTERNAL DEVICE
%he classifierQs output is the input for the !e#ice control. %he !e#ice control simpl transforms
the classification to a particular action. %he action can be& e.g.& an up or !o"n mo#ement of a
cursor on the fee!bac$ screen or a selection of a letter in a "riting application. >o"e#er& if the
classification "as Snothing or Sre:ect & no action is performe!& although the user ma be
1?
informe! about the re:ection. It is the !e#ice that sub:ect pro!uce an! control motion. E+amples
are robotic arm& thought controlle! "heel chair etc
FEEDBACK
Real-time fee!bac$ can !ramaticall impro#e the performance of a brainKmachine interface.
Gee!bac$ is nee!e! for learning an! for control. Real-time fee!bac$ can !ramaticall impro#e
the performance of a brainKmachine interface. In the brain& fee!bac$ normall allo"s for t"o
correcti#e mechanisms. Mne is the XonlineQ control an! correction of errors !uring the e+ecution
of a mo#ement. %he other is learning- the gra!ual a!aptation of motor comman!s& "hich ta$es
place after the e+ecution of one or more mo#ements.
In the B'Is base! on the operant con!itioning approach& fee!bac$ training is essential for the
user to ac8uire the control of his or her EEB response. %he B'Is base! on the pattern
recognition approach an! using mental tas$s !o not !efinitel re8uire fee!bac$ training.
>o"e#er& fee!bac$ can spee! up the learning process an! impro#e performance. Cursor control
has been the most popular tpe of fee!bac$ in B'Is. Gee!bac$ can ha#e man !ifferent effects&
some of them beneficial an! some harmful. Gee!bac$ use! in B'Is has similarities "ith
biofee!bac$& especiall EEB biofee!bac$.
20
BCI APPROACHES
Neuropsychological signals used in BCI applications.
Interfaces base! on brain signals re8uire on-line !etection of mental states fromspontaneous
acti#it- !ifferent cortical areas are acti#ate! "hile thin$ing !ifferent things;i.e. a mathematical
computation& an imagine! arm mo#ement& a music composition&etc...<. %he information of these
4mental states4 can be recor!e! "ith !ifferent metho!s..europschological signals can be
generate! b one or more of the follo"ingthree- implante! metho!s& e#o$e! potentials ;also
$no"n as e#ent relate! potentials<& an!operant con!itioning. Both e#o$e! potential an! operant
con!itioning metho!s arenormall e+ternall-base! BCIs as the electro!es are locate! on the
scalp. %able =.1!escribes the !ifferent signals in common use. It ma be note! that some of the
!escribe!signals fit into multiple categories. As an e+ample& single neural recor!ings ma
useoperant con!itioning in or!er to train neurons for control or ma accept the naturaloccurring
signals for control. *here this occurs& the signal is !escribe! un!er thecategor that best
!istinguishes it.
21
22
/=00-Interface
ERS/ERD-Interface
%he e#ent relate! snchroni)ation ( !esnchroni)ation is a signal tpe that can be measure!
"henthe sub:ect imagines a han! or foot mo#ement. ERS ( ERD "as researche! b a team at
thetechnical uni#ersit of Bra) in Austria NCAOEEBP. %he also !e#elope! an interface "hich
allo"s o#ement of a cursor in a t"o !imensional space b combining han! an! foot mo#ement.
After "o training sessions three of the fi#e test persons achie#e! a success rate bet"een J? an!
100percent& the t"o other persons onl L1an! E0 percent.%his coul! ha#e the cause in !ifferent
imaginations of han! mo#ement each person has.After a E2 training sessions "ith 1E0 trials a
2L-ear ol! paraplegic patient coul! mo#e the cursorpracticall error-free. Regar!ing his
immense han!icap the accomplishment of 0.?L letters perminute is !efinitel
2=
respectable.Another e+periment "as !one at the technical uni#ersit Bra). %he combine! the
ERS(ERDInterface"ith a GES ;functional electrical stimulation< "hich is the stimulation of
muscles using
surface electro!es. A patient "ho ha! lost his abilit to grasp "ith his han! is no" no longer
Ipe!e!.
2D
BCI RESEARCH: EXISTING SYSTEMS.
Different research groups "or$ on communication channels bet"een the brain an!
the computer. %he lea!ing groups are presente! in alphabetical or!er in %able =. 2. %hese
e+perimental interfaces inclu!e the har!"are use! in the BCI& the un!erling BCI
bac$en! soft"are& an! the user application. In assessing current sstems& se#eral factors
must be consi!ere!& inclu!ing fi#e mentione! b Ben Schnei!erman N=.1?P-
1. *hat is the time to learn the sstemY
2. *hat is the spee! of performanceY
=. >o" man an! "hat $in!s of errors !o users ma$eY
D. >o" "ell !o users maintain their $no"le!ge after an hour& a !a& or a "ee$Y
*hat is their retentionY
Berlin Brain-Computer-Interface (BBCI)
%he Berlin Brain-Computer-Interface is a :oint #enture of se#eral german research organisations.
'embers are-
K %he Institute Computer Architecture an! Soft"are %echnolog of the Graunhofer Societ
K %he research group Intelligent Data Analsis ;IDA<
K %he .europhsics Research Broup
K %he !epartment of .eurolog at the Campus Ben:amin Gran$lin of the CharitZ 0ni#ersit
'e!icine
K %he %echnical 0ni#ersit Berlin
%he BBCI pro:ect is sponsore! b the 'inistr for E!ucation an! Research of the Berman
go#ernment.
%he goal of the pro:ect is the !e#elopment of an EEB base! BCI sstem. %he applications of this
sstem are on the one han! computer supporte! "or$places& to control a cursor #ia brain "a#es
an!
on the other han! tools for paral)e! or paraplegic people.
%he BBCI pro:ect aims to shift the main learning effort to the computer. %herefore robust
artificial
learning an! signal processing algorithms nee! to be !e#elope! to classif an! interpret the brain
"a#es correctl. NBBCIP
BCI Classification Competitions
%he first Brain-Computer-Interface Competition too$ place at the Aaborator for Intelligent
Imaging an! .eural Computing of the Columbia 0ni#ersit in 2002.
2L
It "as initali)e! to [forster !e#elopment of machine learning techni8ues an! e#aluate !ifferent
algorithms for BCI6.
%he competition focuse! on classification an! signal processing algorithms. Data sets for se#eral
!ifferent BCI tas$ "ere pro#i!e! to be anal)e! b the participants.
%he rules "ere prett simple-
1. All !ata sets ma onl be e#aluate! single-trial
2. %he statistics(metrics outline! in the !escription of each !ataset shoul! be reporte!
=. B using the !ata sets the participant agrees to refer their origin
D. Cheating is uncool3
NBCICCO2002P
%he competition "as a great success. %herefore it "as repeate! at the 0ni#ersit of Bra)& Austria
in
200= an! at the %he Institute Computer Architecture an! Soft"are %echnolog of the Graunhofer
Societ in 200L. NBBCIP
Brain
1) The Brain Response Interface (Smith-Kettlewell Institute of Visual
Sciences in San Francisco).
SutterIs Brain Response Interface ;BRI< N=.JP uses #isuall e#o$e! potentials ;1E/Is<pro!uce! in
response to brief #isual stimuli. %hese E/Is are then use! to gi#e a !iscretecomman! to pic$ a
certain part of a computer screen. *or! processing output approaches10-12 "or!s(min. an!
accurac approaches ?0V "ith the use of epi!ural electro!es. %his the onl sstem mentione!
that uses implante! electro!es to obtain a stronger& less
contaminate! signal.
A BRI user "atches a computer screen "ith a gri! of ED smbols ;some of "hichlea! to other
pages of smbols< an! concentrates a gi#en smbol. A specific subgroup ofthese smbols
un!ergoes a e8uiluminant re!(green fine chec$ or plain color patternalteration in a simultaneous
stimulator scheme at the monitor #ertical refresh rate ;D0-@0frames(s<. Sutter consi!ere! the
usabilit of the sstem o#er time an! since coloralteration bet"een re! an! green "as almost as
effecti#e as ha#ing the monitor flic$er& hechose to use the color alteration because it "as sho"n
to be much less fatiguing for users.%his sstem is basicall the EEB #ersion of an ee mo#ement
recognition ssteman! contains similar problems because it assumes that the sub:ect is al"as
loo$ing at acomman! on the computer screen.
2) P3 Character Recognition (University of Illinois, USA).
2E
In a relate! approach& Gar"ell an! Donchin use the /= e#o$e! potential N=.1LP. A E+Egri!
containing letters from the alphabet is !isplae! on the computer monitor an! usersare as$e! to
select the letters in a "or! b counting the number of times that a ro" orcolumn containing the
letter flashes. Glashes occur at about 10 >) an! the !esire! letterflashes t"ice in e#er set of
t"el#e flashes. %he a#erage response to each ro" an!column is compute! an! the /= amplitu!e
is measure!. Response amplitu!e is reliabllarger for the ro" an! column containing the !esire!
letter. After t"o training sessions&users are able to communicate at a rate of 2.= characters(min&
"ith accurac rates of ?LV.%his sstem is currentl onl use! in a research setting.
3) ERS/ERD Cursor Control (University of Technology Graz, Austria)
/furtscheller an! his colleagues ta$e a !ifferent approach 0sing multiple electro!es place! o#er
sensorimotor corte+ the monitor
e#ent-relate! snchroni)ation( !esnchroni)ation ;ERS(ERD< NEDP. In all sessions&epochs "ith
ee an! muscle artifact are automaticall re:ecte!. %his re:ection can slo"!o"n sub:ect
performance. As this is a research sstem& the user application is a simplescreen that allo"s
control of a cursor in either the left or right !irection. In anothere+periment& for a single trial the
screen first appears blan$& then a target bo+ is sho"n onone si!e of the screen. A cross hair
appears to let the user $no" that he(she must begintring to mo#e the cursor to"ar!s the bo+.
Gee!bac$ ma be Delae! or imme!iate an!!ifferent e+periments ha#e slightl !ifferent
!isplas an! protocols. After t"o trainingsessions& three out of fi#e stu!ent sub:ects "ere able to
mo#e a cursor right or left "ithaccurac rates from J?-100V. 0nfortunatel& the other t"o
stu!ents performe! at E0Van! L1V. *hen a thir! categor "as a!!e! for classification&
performance !roppe! to a
lo" of E0V in the best case N=.2=P.
4) A Steady State Visual Evoked Potential BCI (Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, The Air Force Research Laboratory, USA).
'i!!en!orf an! colleagues use operant con!itioning metho!s in or!er to train#olunteers to
control the amplitu!e of the stea!-state #isual e#o$e! potential ;SS1E/< toflorescent tubes
flashing at 1=.2L >) N=.11PN=.10PN=.?P. %his metho! of control ma beconsi!ere! as continuous
as the amplitu!e ma change in a continuous fashion. Either ahori)ontal light bar or au!io
fee!bac$ is pro#i!e! "hen electro!es locate! o#er theoccipital corte+ measure changes in signal
amplitu!e. If the 1E/ amplitu!e is belo" orabo#e a specifie! threshol! for a specific time
perio!& !iscrete control outputs aregenerate!. After aroun! E hours of training& users ma ha#e
2@
an accurac rate of greaterthan J0V in comman!ing a flight simulator to roll left or
right.Recogni)ing that the SS1E/ ma also be use! as a natural response&
5) Mu Wave Cursor Control (Wadsworth Center, Albany, USA).
*olpa" an! his colleagues free their sub:ects from being tie! to a flashing florescenttube b
training sub:ects to mo!if their mu "a#e N=.2DPN=.1P. %his metho! of control iscontinuous as the
mu "a#e ma be altere! in a continuous manner. It can be attenuate!b mo#ement an! tactile
stimulation as "ell as b imagine! mo#ement. A sub:ectIs maintas$ is to mo#e a cursor up or
!o"n on a computer screen. *hile not all sub:ects are ableto learn this tpe of biofee!bac$
control& the sub:ects that !o& perform "ith accuracgreater than or e8ual to ?0V. %hese
e+periments ha#e also been e+ten!e! to t"o!imensionalcursor mo#ement& but the accurac of
this is reporte! as ha#ing 6not reache!this le#el of accurac7 "hen compare! to the one-
!imensional control N=.11P.
.
6 An Implanted BCI (Georgia State University, USA).
%he implante! brain-computer interface sstem !e#ise! b ,enne! an!colleagues has been
implante! into t"o patients N=.2LPN=.@P. %hese patients are traine! to
control a cursor "ith their implant an! the #elocit of the cursor is !etermine! b the rateof
neural firing. %he neural "a#eshapes are con#erte! to pulses an! three pulses are aninput to the
computer mouse. %he first an! secon! pulses control T an! 9 position of thecursor an! a thir!
pulse as a mouse clic$ or enter signal.
%he patients are traine! using soft"are that contains a ro" of icons representingcommon phrases
;%al$ Assist !e#elope! at Beorgia %ech<. %here are t"o para!igmsusing this soft"are program
an! a thir! one using the #isual $eboar!. In the firstpara!igm& the cursor mo#es across the
screen using one group of neural signals an! !o"nthe screen using another group of larger
amplitu!e signals. Starting in the top left corner&the patient enters the leftmost icon. >e remains
o#er the icon for t"o secon!s so that thespeech snthesi)er is acti#ate! an! phrases are
pro!uce!. In the secon! para!igm& thepatient is e+pecte! to mo#e the cursor across the screen
from one icon to the other. %hepatient is encourage! to be as accurate as possible& an! then to
spee! up the cursormo#ement "hile attempting to remain accurate. In the thir! para!igm& a
#isual $eboar!is sho"n an! the patient is encourage! to spell his name as accuratel an!
8uic$l aspossible an! then to spell anthing else he "ishes. 0nfortunatel& the
ma+imumcommunication rate "ith this BCI has been aroun! = characters per minute.
2J
= AAS ;Amotrophic Aateral Sclerosis< is a fatal neuromuscular !isease characteri)e!
bprogressi#e muscle "ea$ness resulting in paralsis.
8) The Flexible Brain Computer Interface (University of Rochester, USA).
Baliss an! colleagues N=.2EP ha#e performe! an en#ironmental controlapplication in a #irtual
apartment that enables a sub:ect to turn on(off a light& tele#ision
set& an! ra!io or sa >i(Be to a #irtual person. %his sstem uses the /= e#o$e! potentialin an
immersi#e an! !namic 1irtual Realit "orl!. %he main !ra"bac$ of /=-base!BCIIs is their
slo"ness. Single trial analsis ma spee! up recognition& but often at thecost of accurac.
A single trial accurac a#erage of JLV "as obtaine! in an en#ironment of #irtual!ri#ing.
Sub:ects "ere instructe! to !ri#e in a #irtual to"n an! stop at re! stop lights"hile ignoring both
green an! ello" lights. %he sub:ects use! a #irtual realit helmet&an! a go cart "ith bra$e&
accelerator& an! steering output to control the #irtual car. *hilethis choice coul! ha#e cause!
more artifacts in the signal collection ;!ue to turning thesteering "heel an! bra$ing<& most of the
artifact !isco#ere! an! preprocesse! "as !ue toee mo#ement
APPLICATIONS
Introduction
Apart from being a non-con#entional input !e#ice for a computer "e ha#e foun! three main
application fiel!s for BCIs an! BCI relate! !e#ices "hich are more or less contro#ersial-
K 'e!ical applications
K >uman enhancement
K >uman manipulation
Medical applications
BCIs pro#i!e a ne" an! possibl onl communication channel for people suffering from se#ere
phsical !isabilities but ha#ing intact cogniti#e functions. Gor e+ample these !e#ices coul! help
in
treating ;or rather o#ercoming< paraplegia or amotrophia.
Some"hat relate! to this topic is the fiel! of .europrosthetics "hich !eals "ith constructing an!
surgicall implanting !e#ices use! for replacing !amage! areas of the brain an! more generall
for
neural !amages of an $in!.
Gor e+ample& the most "i!esprea! neuroprosthetic ;appro+. JL&000 people "orl!"i!e 200L
2?
N*I,IO./P< is the cochlear implant or bionic ear. %his !e#ice can help people "ith impaire!
hearing. In contrast to con#entional hearing ai!s this !e#ice is not a soun! amplifier but !irectl
stimulates an appropriate functioning ner#es.
Human enhancement
Definition
6>uman enhancement !escribes an attempt ;"hether temporar or permanent< to o#ercome the
current limitations of human cogniti#e an! phsical abilities& "hether through natural or artificial
means.7 N*I,IO>EP
>a#ing this !efinition in min! one can thin$ of man applications of the BCI in this fiel!. Gor
e+ample BCIs coul! help facilitate communication sstems in Cbernetic Mrganisms& Brain"a#e
Snchroni)ation& or e#en speculati#e things such as the E+ocorte+& among others.
Brain Computer Interfaces - 1= - Behm ( ,ollot)e$ ( >\s$e
Cbernetic Mrganism !escribes the enhancement of an organism b means of technolog. Gor
e+ample a BCI coul! enable the attachment of robotic limbs "ithout the use of the organismHs
original ner#ous sstem ;as long as the brain is intact<.
Brainwave Synchronization
6Brain"a#e snchroni)ation is the practice to entrain oneIs brain"a#es to a !esire! fre8uenc& b
means of a perio!ic stimulus "ith correspon!ing fre8uenc. %he stimulus can be aural as in the
case
of binaural beats& or #isual& as "ith a Dreamachine.7 N*I,IOBSP
A BCI coul! be use! to !etect an! classif the current state of min! of an in!i#i!ual an! acti#el
a!:ust the fre8uenc of the Brain"a#e Snchroni)ation to achie#e a certain state of min!.
Excortex
6An e+ocorte+ ;speculati#e< is an e+ternal information processing sstem that augments& in a
subtle
an! seamless fashion #ia a brain-computer interface& the brainIs biological high-le#el cogniti#e
processes.7 N*I,IOECP
Human manipulation
%he notion that a BCI coul! allo" a t"o-"a communication bet"een a human an! a computer
gi#es rise to more contro#ersial potential uses of such a !e#ice. 0sing such a communication
mechanism one coul! imagine !irectl influencing an in!i#i!ualHs thoughts& !ecisions& emotions
or
thin$ing. Mf course& the mere 6rea!ing7 of the min! coul! be put to criminal use& e.g. un"ante!
=0
rea!ing of pass"or!s& locations& etc.
*hile this ma soun! li$e science-fiction& metho!s researche! in social-pscholog such as
a!#ertisement& me!ia manipulation& propagan!a& group !namics or peer pressure ha#e been
pro#en
to be successful in altering an in!i#i!ualHs beha#ior an! their effecti#eness is un!ispute!. So& in
principle manipulation is possible.
E+periments to e+plore possibilities of min!-control are b no means theoretical an! inclu!e the
use
of !rugs an! electronic signals to alter brain functioning. Gor e+ample the pro:ect co!ename!
',0A%RA con!ucte! b the CIA !ates bac$ to the 1?L0Hs an! "as aime! at researching
min!control
N*I,IO',P.
Brain-computer-interfaces present a ne" le#el of technolog that coul! be use! to acti#el
manipulate an in!i#i!ual.
%he B'I technologies of to!a can be bro$en into three ma:or areas-
1. Au!itor an! #isual prosthesis
- Cochlear implants
- Brainstem implants
- Snthetic #ision
- Artificial silicon retina
2. Gunctional-neuromuscular stimulation ;G.S<
G.S sstems are in e+perimental use in cases "here spinal cor! !amage or a stro$e has se#ere!
the lin$ bet"een brain an! the peripheral ner#ous sstem. %he can use brain to control their
o"n limbs b this sstem
=. /rosthetic limb control
%hought controlle! motori)e! "heel chair.
=1
%hought controlle! prosthetic arm for amputee.
1arious neuroprosthetic !e#ices
Mther #arious applications are 'ental 'ouse Applications in technolog pro!ucts& e.g.& a mobile
phone attachment that allo"s a phsicall challenge! user to !ial a phone number "ithout
touching it or spea$ing into it. Sstem lets ou spea$ "ithout saing a "or! in effecti#e 1E
]construction of unmanne! sstems& in space missions& !efense areas etc. .ASA an! DAR/A
ha#e use! this technolog effecti#el. Communication o#er internet can be mo!ifie!.
The Mental Typewriter:
'arch 1D& 200E Scientists !emonstrate! a brain-computer interface that translates brain signals
into computer control signals this "ee$ at CeBI% in Berlin. %he initial pro:ect !emonstrates ho"
a paralse! patient coul! communicate b using a mental tpe"riter alone K "ithout touching
the $eboar!. In the case of serious acci!ent or illness& a patientHs limbs can be paral)e!&
se#erel restricting communication "ith the outsi!e "orl!. %he interface is alrea! sho"ing ho"
it can help these patients to "rite te+ts an! thus communicate "ith their en#ironment It "ill be
some ears& though& before the mental tpe"riter can be use! in e#er!a applications. Gurther
research is nee!e!& in particular to refine the EEB sensors.
BCI offers paralyzed patients improved quality of life:
%uebingen& Berman. A brainKcomputer interface installe! earl enough in patients "ith neuron-
!estroing !iseases can enable them to be taught to communicate through an electronic !e#ice
an! slo" !estruction of the ner#ous sstem %he research focuses on a con!ition calle! the
completel loc$e!-in state ;CAIS& a total lac$ of muscle control<. In a CAIS situation& intentional
thoughts an! imager can rarel be acte! upon phsicall an!& therefore& are rarel follo"e! b a
stimulus. %he research suggests that as the !isease progresses an! the probabilit for an e+ternal
e#ent to function as a lin$ bet"een response an! conse8uence becomes progressi#el smaller it
ma e#entuall #anish altogether.
Researchers ha#e foun! that b implementing a brain-computer Kinterface before the completel
loc$e!-in state occurs& a patient can be taught to communicate through an electronic !e#ice "ith
great regularit. %he continue! interaction bet"een thought& response an! conse8uence is
belie#e! to slo" the !estruction of the ner#ous sstem.
%he fin!ings are also raising a number of ne" 8uestions about the 8ualit of life amongst
paralsis sufferers. /atients sur#ee! "ere foun! to be much healthier mentall than
pschiatricall !epresse! patients "ithout an life-threatening bo!il !isease. Mnl ?V of AAS
=2
patients sho"e! long episo!es of !epression an! most "ere !uring the perio! follo"ing
!iagnosis an! a perio! of "ee$s after tracheotom
Adaptive BCI for Augmented Cognition and
Action :
%he goal of this pro:ect is to !emonstrate impro#e! human(computer performance for specific
tas$s through !etection of tas$-rele#ant cogniti#e e#ents "ith real-time EEB ;Gig. 1<. Gor
e+ample& in tas$s for "hich there is a !irect tra!eoff bet"een reaction time an! error rate& ;such
as tping or #isual search< it ma be beneficial to correct a userHs errors "ithout interrupting the
pace of the primar tas$. Such a user interface is possible through the !irect !etection of EEB
signatures associate! "ith the perception of a error& often referre! to as Error Relate! .egati#it.
In general such signatures ma be use! to !namicall a!:ust the beha#ior of human-computer
interfaces an! information !isplas.
%his pro:ect a!#ances signal analsis techni8ues for high !ensit EEB to !etect !iscrete e#ents
associate! "ith cogniti#e processing. Correspon!ing real-time a!apti#e interfaces "ith sub-
secon! latenc are being !esigne! to e#aluate this concept of an a!apti#e brain-computer
interface in three specific applications (1) Error and conflict perception:
Error relate! negati#it ;ER.< in EEB has been lin$e! to percei#e! response errors an! conflicts
in !ecision-ma$ing. In this pro:ect "e ha#e !e#elope! single trial ER. !etection to pre!ict tas$-
relate! errors. %he sstem can be use! as an automate! real-time !ecision chec$er for time-
sensiti#e control tas$s. In the first phase of this pro:ect "e !emonstrate! impro#e!
human(computer performance at a rapi! force! choice !iscrimination tas$ "ith an a#erage 2=V
re!uction of human errors ;results on one sub:ect are sho"n in Gig. 2<. %his open-loop error
correction para!igm represents the first application of real-time cogniti#e e#ent !etection an!
==
!emonstrates the utilit of real-time EEB brain monitoring "ithin the Augmente! Cognition
program. *e "ill e#aluate #i!eo game scenarios "ith close!-loop fee!bac$ at latencies of less
than 1L0 ms "here !etecte! errors are correcte! or application parameters such as spee! are
#arie! accor!ing to the measure! or 4gauge!4 conflict perception.
(2) Working memory encoding.
%ransient mo!ulation of oscillations in the theta ;D-J >)< an! gamma ;20-=0 >)< ban!s&
recor!e! using EEB an! magnetoencephalograph ;'EB<& ha#e been implicate! in the enco!ing
an! retrie#al of semantic information in "or$ing memor. In this pro:ect "e "ill e+ploit these
neural correlates of semantic processing to !etect problems "ith semantic information
processing. %his memor gauge coul! be use! to !etect memor recall !eficits& an! repeat or
enhance the presente! information an! thus better prime memor recall.
(3) Rapid visual recognition:
*e are e+ploring the signals elicite! b #isual target !etection& "hich "ere recentl obser#e! in
rapi! se8uential #isual presentation ;RS1/< e+periments. *e ha#e !emonstrate! that the
!etection of these signals on a single trial basis can be use! to replace the slo" manual response
of a human operator& thereb significantl increasing the throughput of image search tas$s ;Gig
=<. %his para!igm has the potential to impro#e the performance of Image Analsts "ho nee! to
routinel sur#e large #olumes of aerial imager "ithin short perio!s of time. In a!!ition& the
approach loo$s to measure the 4bottlenec$4 bet"een constant !ela perceptual processing an!
more #ariable !ela cogniti#e processing. %hus the !etecte! signatures can be use! to 4gauge4 if
cogniti#e sstems are capable(incapable of assimilating perceptual input for fast !ecision
ma$ing.
In the first phase of this pro:ect a full automate! real-time signal analsis sstem an! har!"are
infrastructure has been !e#elope! that can gi#e short latenc fee!bac$ to the user "ithin L0ms of
the recor!e! acti#it. %he signal processing sstem a!apti#el learns to !etect e#o$e! responses
from the real-time streaming EEB signal. %he current sstem& "hich is use! for tas$s 1 an! =&
can be
configure! for single trial !etection for an number of cogniti#e e#ents such ER.& rapi! #isuual
recognition& rea!iness potential& response to o!!ball stimulus ;/=00<& as "ell as con#entional
#isual& au!itor& or somato-sensor responses. *e are in the progress of appling this sstem to
e#ent !etection in the *arship Comman!er - a common tas$ set propose! for integration an!
e#aluation b the Augmente! Cognition /rogram
=D
=L
E+perimental Brain Computer Interface Soft"are for the 'o!ular EEB ;%he ABI soft"are<
E.1. Intro!uction-
ABI is a simple soft"are for the 'o!ular EEB that implements an e+perimental Brain Computer
Interface ;BCI<. .o"a!as& BCI research is an highl acti#e fiel!& but the e+isting
technolog is still immature for its use outsi!e of a labIs settings. %he ABI soft"are tries
to pro#i!e a simple tool for hobbists to !o e+periments on its o"n "ith BCI technolog.
Work of the software:
%he ABI is a BCI base! on trials. A trial is a time inter#al "here the user generates brain"a#es
to perform an action. %he BCI tries to process this signal an! to associate it to a gi#en class. %he
association is !one b fee!ing a neural net "ith the preprocesse! EEB !ata. %he neural netIs
output is then further processe! an! this final output correspon!s to the gi#en class. %he neural
net shoul! be traine! in or!er to learn the association.
%he classifierIs i!ea is hea#il base! on Christin SchWferIs !esign ;"inner of the BCI
Competition II& 'otor Imaginer %rials<.
%he ABI soft"are allo"s ou to
1 Do simple Biofee!bac$. 9ou can !ispla ra" EEB channels& narro" ban! fre8uenc
amplitu!es an! classes.
2 Simulate trials.
= Recor! trials for a number of choice of !ifferent classes.
D %rain the interface.
6.3. The classification achieved by this software:
%he metho! has been pre#iousl applie! to the !ata pro#i!e! b the BCI Competition II !ata
;!ataset III& Bra) 0ni#ersit& 'otor Imaginar< an! compare! against the results obtaine! b the
contributors. %he metho! has outperformed the results achie#e! b them& obtaining a higher
'utual Information ;"hich "as the criterion use! in the competition< of 0.E@ bits ;the "inner of
the competition obtaine! 0.E1 bits<.
Mf course& it is #er important that more people test the soft"are an! report its results to impro#e
the metho!. Statistical stabilit can onl be guarantee! if more people tr it out.
6.4. Instructions:
=E
B e+ecuting ABI& it rea!s a configuration file calle! 4abi.t+t4 ;"hich ou can e!it "ith a simple
te+t e!itor<& "here the "a the BCI shoul! act is specifie!. ABI tries to loa! the trial file !efine!
in the configuration file. %he trial file is a te+t !atabase containing trials for !ifferent classes.
ABI has three operating mo!es- SIMULATION& RECORDING an! TRAINING. 9ou can
s"itch bet"een operating mo!es b pressing F1& F2 or F3 respecti#el ;the soft"are !oesnIt
change its mo!e instantl& because a trial shoul!nIt be interrupte! in the mi!!le<.
%he operation is 8uite simple. %he user recor!s se#eral trials for the !ifferent classes
;RECORDING mo!e<. Each class is associate! to a !ifferent mental tas$. After recor!ing a
reasonable amount of trials ;more than L0 trials for each class<& the user can train the sstem to
learn a "a to !iscriminate bet"een the !ifferent classes ;TRAINING mo!e<. %his process can
be repeate! in or!er to impro#e the 8ualit of the recognition. %he sstem can be teste! un!er the
SIMULATION mo!e.
An e+planation of the !ifferent mo!es follo"s.
E.D.1.SI'0AA%IM. an! RECMRDI.B
%hese t"o mo!es perform single trials. %he SIMULATION mo!e is use! to test the BCI.
RECORDING is the same as SI'0AA%IM.& "ith the !ifference that the EEB !ata is recor!e!
an! use! as training e+amples. A trial has the follo"ing structure
=@
As ou can see& a trial is compose! of three subinter#als& "hose !uration is !efine! b the
#ariables TPreparation& TPrerecording an! TrialLength& in the configuration file.
. %RAI.I.B
/ressing the F3 $e& the sstem starts to train the neural net "ith the a#ailable !ata. %he training set use! for this purpose is the
set of the last TrialBuffer recor!e! trialsI features. E+ample- Suppose ou ha#e recor!e! =00 trials& an! TrialBuffer 100
%hen the sstem e+tracts the features of the 100 last recor!e! trials to form the training set.
%raining time !epen!s upon the comple+it of the training !ata an! the amount of recor!e! !ata. %he training !ata is not al"as
separable. If the mental tas$ for class 1 is too similar to the mental tas$ for class 2& then the neural net "onIt be able to !o the
separation- this isnIt magic --< .
considerations
BCI technolog is still in its infanc& so little is $no"n about "hich mental tas$s are better than
others for BCIs. Also& the electro!e placing is important. If our electro!e setting isnIt
=J
appropiate& then it can happen that the e#en arenIt recor!ing the cortical areas relate! to the
mental tas$3
Research has !isco#ere! the follo"ing changes in electrical acti#it !uring mental tas$s ;this list
isnIt complete& I hope that the MpenEEB communit "ill !isco#er some more<-
1 Motor Imaginery: Imagination of phsical mo#ement pro!uces changes in the
sensormotor corte+. In e+ample& imagination of left an! right mi!!le finger imagination
pro!uces changes& namel ;!e-<snchroni)ation on electro!e positions aroun! C= an! CD. Boo!
features are aroun! 10 an! 20 >).
2 Rotation of 3D objects: Aiterature state! that !uring imagination of rotation of =!
ob:ects in#ol#es frontal an! temporal lobe acti#it. %he seem to sinchroni)e. Boo! features are
aroun! 10 >).
=?
CONCLUSION
Present and Future.
%he practical use of BCI technolog !epen!s on an inter!isciplinar cooperationbet"een
neuroscientists& engineers& computer programmers& pschologists& an!
rehabilitation specialists& in or!er to !e#elop appropriate applications& to i!entifappropriate
users groups& an! to pa careful attention to the nee!s an! !esires of
in!i#i!ual users.%he prospects for controlling computers through neural signals are
in!ee!!ifficult to :u!ge because the fiel! of research is still in its infanc. 'uch progress
hasbeen ma!e in ta$ing a!#antage of the po"er of personal computers to perform theoperations
nee!e! to recogni)e patterns in biological impulses& but the search for ne" an!more useful
signals still continues.If the a!#ances of the 21st centur match the stri!es of the past fe"
!eca!es& !irectneural communication bet"een humans an! computers ma ultimatel mature
an! fin!"i!esprea! use. /erhaps ne"l purchase! computers "ill one !a arri#e "ith
biologicalsignal ensors an! thought-recognition soft"are built in& :ust as $eboar! an! mouse
arecommonl foun! on to!aIs units. Cultures ma ha#e !i#erse ethics& but regar!less& in!i#i!ual
liberties an! human life are al"as #alue! o#er an! abo#e machines. *hat happens "hen
humans merge "ith machinesY %he 8uestion is not "hat "ill the computer be li$e in the future&
but instea!& "hat "ill "e be li$eY *hat $in! of people are "e becomingY
B'IQs "ill ha#e the abilit to gi#e people bac$ their #ision an! hearing. %he "ill also change
the "a a person loo$s at the "orl!. Some!a these !e#ices might be more common than
$eboar!s. Is someone "ith a snthetic ee& less a person than someone "ithoutY Shall "e
process signals li$e ultra#iolet& T-ras& or ultrasoun!s as robots !oY %hese 8uestions "ill not be
ans"ere! in the near future& but at some time the "ill ha#e to be ans"ere!. *hat an interesting
!a that "ill be. An! further still-
In principle "e coul! !o this for all the senses5recor! not :ust "hatou see& but also "hat ou
hear& taste& smell& an! feel& all at the le#elof our brain. /laing bac$ such an e+perience "oul!
be a little li$ereli#ing it. 9ou might e#en be able to pla that $in! of sensor recor!ingbac$ for
someone else& turning the e+perience ou ha! into a set ofner#e impulses that coul! be sent into
the other personHs brain& allo"inghim or her to e+perience at least the sensor parts of an e#ent
from
our perspecti#e. . . .
D0
ANNEXURE 1: BIOMEDICAL CONSIDERATIONS.
%he brain contains appro+imatel 100 billion neurons NA1-1P. Each neuron ma ha#e
as man as 2000 or more connections "ith other neurons an! ma recei#e as man as
20&000 inputs. Abstractl& a neuron is probabl the most !i#erse& in terms of form an!
si)e& of all cells in the bo!2 ho"e#er& all neurons ha#e in common the functional
properties of integration& con!uction an! transmission of ner#e impulses. A neuron
consists of three basic parts ;Gig. A1-1<-
U Cell body ;or soma<. %his main part has all of the necessar components of the
cell& such as the nucleus ;contains D.A<& en!oplasmic reticulum an! ribosomes
;for buil!ing proteins< an! mitochon!ria ;for ma$ing energ<. If the cell bo!
!ies& the neuron !ies.
U Axon - %his long& cable-li$e pro:ection of the cell carries the electrochemical
message ;ner#e impulse or action potential< along the length of the cell.
Depen!ing upon the tpe of neuron& a+ons can be co#ere! "ith a thin laer of
melin& li$e an insulate! electrical "ire. 'elin is ma!e of fat& an! it helps to
spee! transmission of a ner#e impulse !o"n a long a+on. 'elinate! neurons are
tpicall foun! in the peripheral ner#es ;sensor an! motor neurons<& "hile nonmelinate!
neurons are foun! in the brain an! spinal cor!.
U Dendrites or nerve endings - %hese small& branch-li$e pro:ections of the cell
ma$e connections to other cells an! allo" the neuron to tal$ "ith other cells or
percei#e the en#ironment. Den!rites can be locate! on one or both en!s of the
cell. %here are t"o tpes of !en!rites& apical an! basal !en!rites.
D1
Figure A1-1. .euron topolog.
Each neuron is in contact through its a+on an! !entrites "ith other neurons& so that each neuron
is an
interconnecting segment in the net"or$ of the ner#ous sstem.
L@
.eurons come in man si)es. Gor e+ample& a single sensor neuron from the
fingertip has an a+on that e+ten!s the length of the arm& "hile neurons "ithin the brain
ma e+ten! onl a fe" millimeters. .eurons ha#e !ifferent shapes !epen!ing on "hat
the !o. 'otor neurons that control muscle contractions ha#e a cell bo! on one en!& a
long a+on in the mi!!le an! !en!rites on the other en!2 sensor neurons ha#e !en!rites
on both en!s& connecte! b a long a+on "ith a cell bo! in the mi!!le. .eurons also #ar
"ith respect to their functions-
U Sensory neurons carr signals from the outer parts of the bo! ;peripher< into
the central ner#ous sstem.
U Motor neurons ;motoneurons< carr signals from the central ner#ous sstem to
the outer parts ;muscles& s$in& glan!s< of the bo!.
U Receptors sense the en#ironment ;chemicals& light& soun!& touch< an! enco!e this
information into electrochemical messages that are transmitte! b sensor
neurons.
U Interneurons connect #arious neurons "ithin the brain an! spinal cor!.
Figure A1-2. Some tpes of neurons- interneuron& sensor neuron& motoneuron an! cortical
prami!al cell.
%he snapse& a speciali)e! site of contact bet"een neurons& is of prime
D2
significance in the integrati#e acti#ities of the ner#ous sstem& as the information from
one neuron flo"s to another neuron across of it. %he snapse is a small gap separating 2
neurons& an! consists of-
LJ
1. A presnaptic en!ing that contains neurotransmitters& mitochon!ria an! other cell
organelles.
2. A postsnaptic en!ing that contains receptor sites for neurotransmitters.
=. %he snaptic cleft- a space bet"een the presnaptic an! postsnaptic en!ings.
Gor communication bet"een neurons& an electrical impulse must tra#el !o"n an a+on
to the snaptic terminal.
Electric potentials are pro!uce! at the snaptic :unctions& "hich can be locali)e! o#er
the a+on ;a+oa+onic snapse<& the soma ;a+osomatic snapse< or the !entrites
;a+o!en!ritic snapse< ;Gig A1.=<& an! reflect the communication bet"een neurons.
*hen a neurotransmitter bin!s to a receptor on the postsnaptic si!e of the snapse& it
changes the postsnaptic cellIs e+citabilit- it ma$es the postsnaptic cell either more or
less li$el to fire an action potential. If the number of e+citator postsnaptic e#ents are
large enough& the "ill cause an action potential in the postsnaptic cell an! the
continuation of the 4message.4 In a!!ition to %he EEB pic$ up this snchroni)e!
subthreshol! !entritic potentials pro!uce! b the postsnaptic acti#it of man neurons
summe! NA1-2P.

Figure A1-3. %pes of snapses. Grom left t"o right- a+oa+onic snapse& a+o!en!ritic snapse&
an!
D=
a+osomatic snapse.
.ot all tpes of brain acti#it ha#e i!entical impact on the EEB. %he !epth&
orientation an! intrinsic smmetr of connections in the corte+ are significant in it. %he
primar cell of importance in the neocorte+ is the prami!al cell. ItIs $no"n that its
neurotransmitter is a potent e+citator transmitter. %he prami!al cell recei#es man
inputs from stellate cells that are also e+citator. %he prami!al cell is !ifferent from
other neurons in that it #iolates one of the fun!amental rules of stan!ar!
neurophsiolog& that onl a+ons pro!uce action potentials "hich transmit information
from one cell to another& an! !en!rites pro!uce e+citator an! inhibitor slo" potentials
that summate at the a+on hilloc$ "here the establish the action potentials. In the case of
the prami!al cell& the apical !en!rite& "hich is a long shaft bet"een the basal an! apical
region& can actuall pro!uce action potentials& an! these in turn act to amplif the
po"erful action potentials that no" pro:ect to output sstems--sensor& motor&
autonomic& or integrati#e NA1.=P. Gor this reason& prami!al cells are thought to cause the
strongest part of the EEB signal
THE HUMAN BRAIN
All of it happens in the brain. %he brain is un!oubte!l the most comple+ organ foun! among the
carbon-base! life forms. So comple+ it is that "e ha#e onl #ague information about ho" it
"or$s. %he a#erage human brain "eights aroun! 1D00 grams. %he most rele#ant part of brain
concerning B'IQs is the cerebral corte+. %he cerebral corte+ can be !i#i!e! into t"o
hemispheres. %he hemispheres are connecte! "ith each other #ia corpus callosum. Each
hemisphere can be !i#i!e! into four lobes. %he are calle! frontal& parietal& occipital an!
temporal lobes. Cerebral corte+ is responsible for man higher or!er functions li$e problem
sol#ing& language comprehension an! processing of comple+ #isual information. %he cerebral
corte+ can be !i#i!e! into se#eral areas& "hich are responsible of !ifferent functions. %his $in!
of $no"le!ge has been use! "hen "ith BCIQs base! on the pattern recognition approach. %he
mental tas$s are chosen in such a "a that the acti#ate !ifferent parts of the cerebral corte+.
Cortical Area Gunction
Au!itor Association Area /rocessing of au!itor information
Au!itor Corte+ Detection of soun! 8ualit ;lou!ness& tone<
Speech Center ;BrocaQs area< Speech pro!uction an! articulation
/refrontal Corte+ /roblem sol#ing& emotion& comple+ thought
'otor Association Corte+ Coor!ination of comple+ mo#ement
/rimar 'otor Corte+ Initiation of #oluntar mo#ement
/rimar Somatosensor Corte+ Recei#es tactile information from the bo!
DD
Sensor Association Area /rocessing of multisensor information
1isual Association Area Comple+ processing of #isual information
*ernic$eQs Area Aanguage comprehension
PRINCIPLES OF ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY.
The Nature of the EEG signals.
%he electrical nature of the human ner#ous sstem has been recogni)e! for more
than a centur. It is "ell $no"n that the #ariation of the surface potential !istribution on
the scalp reflects functional acti#ities emerging from the un!erling brain N2.1P. %his
surface potential #ariation can be recor!e! b affi+ing an arra of electro!es to the scalp&
an! measuring the #oltage bet"een pairs of these electro!es& "hich are then filtere!&
amplifie!& an! recor!e!. %he resulting !ata is calle! the EEB. Gig. 1-1 sho"s "a#eforms
of a 10 secon! EEB segment containing si+ recor!ing channels& "hile the recor!ing sites
are illustrate! in Gig. 2-2. In our e+periments& "e ha#e use! the10-20 Sstem of
Electro!e /lacement& "hich is base! on the relationship bet"een the location of an
electro!e an! the un!erling area of cerebral corte+ ;the 4104 an! 4204 refer to the 10V
or 20V interelectro!e !istance< N2.@P.
Figure
DL
Figure 2-2. %he 10-20 Sstem of Electro!e /lacement.
Each site has a letter ;to i!entif the lobe< an! a number or another letter to i!entif the
hemisphere
location. %he letters G& %& C& /& an! M stan! for Grontal& %emporal& Central& /arietal an!
Mccipital. ;.ote
that there is no 4central lobe4& but this is :ust use! for i!entification purposes.< E#en numbers
;2&D&E&J< refer
to the right hemisphere an! o!! numbers ;1&=&L&@< refer to the left hemisphere. %he ) refers to an
electro!e
place! on the mi!line.
Nasion: point bet"een the forehea! an! nose.
Inion: Bump at bac$ of s$ull
%he EEB is thought to be the snchroni)e! subthreshol! !entritic potentialspro!uce! b the
snaptic acti#it of man neurons summe! N2.2P. In its formation not all
tpes of brain acti#it ha#e i!entical impact. %he !epth& orientation an! intrinsicsmmetr of
connections in the corte+ are significant in it. As it is e+pose! in pre#ious
"or$s N2.2PN2.=P& prami!al cells are thought to cause the strongest part of the
EEBsignal1..o"a!as& mo!ern techni8ues for EEB ac8uisition collect these
un!erlingelectrical patterns from the scalp& an! !igitali)e them for computer storage.
Electro!escon!uct #oltage potentials as micro#olt le#el signals& an! carr them into amplifiers
thatmagnif the signals appro+imatel ten thousan! times. %he use of this technolog!epen!s
strongl on the electro!es positioning an! the electro!es contact. Gor this reason&electro!es are
usuall constructe! from con!ucti#e materials& such us gol! or sil#erchlori!e& "ith an
DE
appro+imati#e !iameter of 1 cm& an! sub:ects must also use acon!ucti#e gel on the scalp to
maintain an acceptable signal to noise ratio.
EEG wave groups.
%he analsis of continuous EEB signals or brain "a#es is comple+& !ue to thelarge amount of
information recei#e! from e#er electro!e. As a science in itself& it has tobe complete! "ith its
o"n set of perple+ing nomenclature. Different "a#es& li$e so manra!io stations& are categori)e!
b the fre8uenc of their emanations an!& in some cases&b the shape of their "a#eforms.
Although none of these "a#es is e#er emitte! alone& thestate of consciousness of the in!i#i!uals
ma ma$e one fre8uenc range morepronounce! than others. Gi#e tpes are particularl
important-
BETA. %he rate of change lies bet"een 1= an! =0 >)& an! usuall has a lo" #oltage
bet"een L-=0 1 ;Gig. 2-E<. Beta is the brain "a#e usuall associate! "ith acti#e
thin$ing& acti#e attention& focus on the outsi!e "orl! or sol#ing concrete problems. It can
reach fre8uencies near L0 hert) !uring intense mental acti#it.
Figure 2-4. Alpha ;left< an! Beta ;right< "a#es.
ALPHA. %he rate of change lies bet"een J an! 1= >)& "ith =0-L0 1 amplitu!e ;Gig 2-
D<. Alpha "a#es ha#e been thought to in!icate both a rela+e! a"areness an! alsoinattention.
%he are strongest o#er the occipital ;bac$ of the hea!< corte+ an! also o#erfrontal corte+. Alpha
is the most prominent "a#e in the "hole realm of brain acti#it an!possibl co#ers a greater
range than has been pre#iousl thought of. It is fre8uent to see apea$ in the beta range as high as
20 >)& "hich has the characteristics of an alpha staterather than a beta& an! the setting in "hich
such a response appears also lea!s to the sameconclusion. Alpha alone seems to in!icate an
empt min! rather than a rela+e! one& amin!less state rather than a passi#e one& an! can be
D@
re!uce! or eliminate! b opening theees& b hearing unfamiliar soun!s& or b an+iet or mental
concentration.
THETA. %heta "a#es lie "ithin the range of D to @ >)& "ith an amplitu!e usuall greaterthan 20
U1. %heta arises from emotional stress& especiall frustration or !isappointment. %heta has been
also associate! "ith access to unconscious material& creati#e inspirationan! !eep me!itation. %he
large !ominant pea$ of the theta "a#es is aroun! @ >).
DELTA. Delta "a#es lie "ithin the range of 0.L to D >)& "ith #ariable amplitu!e. Delta"a#es
are primaril associate! "ith !eep sleep& an! in the "a$ing state& "ere thought toin!icate
phsical !efects in the brain. It is #er eas to confuse artifact signals cause! bthe large
muscles of the nec$ an! :a" "ith the genuine !elta responses. %his is becausethe muscles are
near the surface of the s$in an! pro!uce large signals "hereas the signal"hich is of interest
originates !eep in the brain an! is se#erel attenuate! in passingthrough the s$ull. .e#ertheless&
"ith an instant analsis EEB& it is eas to see "hen theresponse is cause! b e+cessi#e
mo#ement.
Figure 2-6. Delta "a#e.
GAMMA. Bamma "a#es lie "ithin the range of =L>) an! up. It is thought that this ban!reflects
the mechanism of consciousness - the bin!ing together of !istinct mo!ular brainfunctions into
coherent percepts capable of beha#ing in a re-entrant fashion ;fee!ing bac$on themsel#es o#er
time to create a sense of stream-of-consciousness<.
MU. It is an J-12 >) spontaneous EEB "a#e associate! "ith motor acti#ities an!ma+imall
recor!e! o#er motor corte+ ;Gig. 2-J<. %he !iminish "ith mo#ement or thentention to mo#e.
'u "a#e is in the same fre8uenc ban! as in the alpha "a#e ;Gig. 2-@<& but this last one is
recor!e! o#er occipital corte+.
DJ
Figure 2-7. 'u ;left< an! alpha ;right< "a#es.
'ost attempts to control a computer "ith continuous EEB measurements "or$ bmonitoring
alpha or mu "a#es& because people can learn to change the amplitu!e of theset"o "a#es b
ma$ing the appropriate mental effort. A person might accomplish thisresult& for instance& b
recalling some strongl stimulating image or b raising his or herle#el of attention.
D?
REGERE.CES-
E. R. ,an!el& F. >. Sch"art)& an! %. '. Fessell& /rinciples of .eural Science& =r!
e!. .e" 9or$- Else#ier(.orth->ollan!& 1??1
A!am ,eiper &%he Age of .euroelectronics
Ale+an!er Behm& 'ar$us A. ,ollot)e$ an! Gabian >\s$e. Controlling
computers b thoughts. http-((spectrum.ieee.org(biome!ical(!e#ices(the-
brainmachine-interface-unplugge!(0
B.*.Fer#is& E.C.Ifeachor& an! E.'.Allen. %he remo#al o ocular artifacts from the
BCI Competition& http-((liinc.bme.columbia.e!u(competition.htm
Berger http-((en."i$ipe!ia.org("i$i(>ansOBerger
Berlin Brain-Computer-Interface& http-((bbci.!e(
Brain-Computer Interface %echnolog- %heor an! /ractice-Girst International
'eeting /rogram an! /apers& %he Rensselaer#ille Institute& Rensselaer#ille& .e"
9or$
Brain-Computer Interface&
http-((en."i$ipe!ia.org("i$i(BrainOcomputerOinterface
Dr Aarr Abbott . Electrical properties of neurons
electroencephalogram -a re#ie" . http-((ne"ton.bme.columbia.e!u("olpa".html
Electroencephalograph& pages 1L-2E
E+ocorte+ & http-((en."i$ipe!ia.org("i$i(E+ocorte+
G. >. Aopes !a Sil#a an! A. #an Rotter!am. Biophsical aspects of EEB an!
'EB generation. In E. .ie!ermeer an! G. >. Aopes !a Sil#a& e!itors&
B. Bratton& '.B.>. Coles an! E. Donchin. A .e" 'etho! for off K line remo#al
of Mcular artifacts. Electroencephalograph an! .europhsiolog& 1ol LL& pp.
DEJ-DJD&1?J=
>ansBra) Brain-Computer-Interface& http-((bci.tugra).at(in!e+.html
L0
>e"ett& Baec$er& Car!& Care& Basen& 'antei& /erlman& Strong an!
Forge Ba)tarrica Mchoa&Bar Barcia 'olina.%oura!: Ebrahimi. EEB Signal
Classification for BrainComputer Interface Applications&
'i!!en!orf& '.S.& 'c'illan& B.& Calhoun& B.& un! Fones& ,.S.&1???&Brain-
computer interfaces base! on the stea!-state #isual-e#o$e! response
.euroimaging& http-((en."i$ipe!ia.org("i$i(.euroimaging
Schal$& Dennis F. 'cGarlan!& an! Fonathan R. *olpa". BRAI.-CM'/0%ER
I.%ERGACES GMR CM''0.ICA%IM. A.D CM.%RMA
1erplan$. >uman-Computer Interaction& http-((sigchi.org(c!g(c!g2.html
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