Natural language processing with dynamic classification improves P300 speller accuracy and bit rate

The P300 speller is an example of a brain-computer interface that can restore functionality to victims of neuromuscular disorders. Although the most common application of this system has been communicating language, the properties and constraints of the linguistic domain have not to date been exploited when decoding brain signals that pertain to language. We hypothesized that combining the standard stepwise linear discriminant analysis with a Naive Bayes classifier and a trigram language model would increase the speed and accuracy of typing with the P300 speller. With integration of natural language processing, we observed significant improvements in accuracy and 40-60% increases in bit rate for all six subjects in a pilot study. This study suggests that integrating information about the linguistic domain can significantly improve signal classification.