Predictability of Brain-Computer Communication

Abstract Since 1996 we have been teaching more than 18 severely or totally paralyzed patients to successfully control the movements of a cursor on a computer screen by means of systematic changes in the amplitudes of their slow cortical potentials (SCPs; Birbaumer, Ghanayim, Hinterberger, Iversen, Kotchoubey et al., 1999). Patients learned regulation of their SCP amplitudes by means of a brain-computer interface (BCI) and on-line feedback about the time course of SCP amplitude shifts, represented by cursor movements on a computer screen. When patients were able to successfully regulate their SCP amplitude, they were trained to use this ability to communicate with friends and caregivers by means of a Language Support Program (Perelmouter, Kotchoubey, Kubler, Taub, & Birbaumer, 1999). Having a reliable predictor of progress in training would be particularly helpful because training patients at their homes requires substantial effort and a positive outcome is desirable given limited personal and financial re...

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