Mental Strategies in a P300-BCI: Visuomotor Transformation Is an Option

Currently, P300-BCIs are mostly used for spelling tasks, where the number of commands is equal to the number of stimuli that evoke event-related potentials (ERPs). Increasing this number slows down the BCI operation because each stimulus has to be presented several times for better classification. Furthermore, P300 spellers typically do not utilize potentially useful imagery-based approaches, such as the motor imagery successfully practiced in motor rehabilitation. Here, we tested a P300-BCI with a motor-imagery component. In this BCI, the number of commands was increased by adding mental strategies instead of increasing the number of targets. Our BCI had only two stimuli and four commands. The subjects either counted target appearances mentally or imagined hand movements toward the targets. In this design, the motor-imagery paradigm enacted a visuomotor transformation known to engage cortical and subcortical networks participating in motor control. The operation of these networks suffers in neurological conditions such as stroke, so we view this BCI as a potential tool for the rehabilitation of patients. As an initial step toward the development of this clinical method, sixteen healthy participants were tested. Consistent with our expectation that mental strategies would result in distinct EEG activities, ERPs were different depending on whether subjects counted stimuli or imagined movements. These differences were especially clear in the late ERP components localized in the frontal and centro-parietal regions. We conclude that (1) the P300 paradigm is suitable for enacting visuomotor transformations and (2) P300-based BCIs with multiple mental strategies could be used in applications where the number of possible outputs needs to be increased while keeping the number of targets constant. As such, our approach adds to both the development of versatile BCIs and clinical approaches to rehabilitation.