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Assessment and Communication for People with Disorders of Consciousness
Published on: August 1, 2017
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Application of rapid invisible frequency tagging for brain computer interfaces.
Marion Brickwedde1, Yulia Bezsudnova2, Anna Kowalczyk2
1Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom; Charité, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany.
Journal of Neuroscience Methods
|October 13, 2022
Summary
This study introduces a new brain-computer interface (BCI) method using invisible, rapid frequency-tagging. This technique allows for faster, less fatiguing BCI control, demonstrated by participants playing a PONG game.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Biomedical Engineering
- Human-Computer Interaction
Background:
- Steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) are common in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs).
- SSVEP-BCIs require users to focus on flickering visual stimuli to decode neural responses.
- Existing SSVEP systems can cause visual fatigue due to distracting flicker.
Purpose of the Study:
- To implement and evaluate a novel rapid invisible frequency-tagging technique for BCIs.
- To assess the feasibility of using this technique to control a BCI PONG game.
- To compare the new method with traditional SSVEP-based BCIs.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a high-refresh-rate projector (up to 1440 Hz) for invisible frequency-tagging at 56 and 60 Hz.
- Measured neuronal responses using magnetoencephalography (MEG).
- Decoded covert attention from frequency-tagging responses to control a PONG game in real-time.
Main Results:
- Seven out of eight participants successfully played the BCI PONG game with over 60% accuracy.
- Participants could modulate neural responses within a 1-second interval.
- Reliable decoding was achieved using only seven occipital sensors.
Conclusions:
- Rapid invisible frequency-tagging offers a non-distracting, fatigue-reducing alternative to traditional SSVEP-BCIs.
- The technique enhances temporal resolution, potentially increasing communication rates.
- This method, combined with technologies like optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs), could enable next-generation high-speed, mobile BCIs.
