EEG-based musical neurointerfaces in the correction of stress-induced states

Abstract

ABSTRACT Chronic action of work-related and background stresses causes a disruption of coping mechanisms and may first lead to functional disorders, and then develop into serious stress-related diseases. This generates a need for timely correction of stress-induced functional disturbances. Prior research has shown promise in closed-loop EEG feedback systems to alter patients’ mental states induced by stress. The present study aims to assess the effects of stress suppression using a single (music) or double (music+video) feedback from the patient’s EEG. In one of three experiments, 18 stressed volunteers were presented with classical music without feedback (control). In the other two experiments, either a single feedback was used, where music loudness varied in strict accordance with the current amplitude of the patient’s EEG oscillator, or a double feedback, in which the described music signals are supplemented by rhythmic light stimuli generated from the patient’s EEG. A significant increase in alpha EEG power, accompanied by positive emotional reactions and shifts in the functional state of the participants were observed only in the presence of the feedback from the EEG. Doubling the feedback from human EEG leads to increased effectiveness of neurointerfaces due to resonant interaction between rhythmic sensory stimuli and bioelectric processes of the human brain.