Improving Auditory Paradigms for Consciousness Detection by Brain-Computer Interfaces Technique

Abstract

Recognition of consciousness using auditory oddball paradigms has become an important research topic in the brain-computer interface (BCI) field. Minimizing the time needed to acquire sufficient data for an assessment could be crucial for patients who have limited concentration. This study aims to reduce the assessment time for auditory oddball paradigms by testing different settings and stimulation approaches. One paradigm uses the subject's own name as deviant sound. The other paradigms use standard sine waves for stimulation. EEG activity was recorded during four different auditory oddball paradigms in a group of nine healthy persons. For comparison, the area under the curve of the P300 of each paradigm was calculated. First, we demonstrate that the name of the subject produced a larger P300 area than the sine tones. More importantly, we found that the name paradigm requires fewer trials to achieve similar results as in a standard auditory paradigm. This means the execution time of the auditory paradigm can be reduced compared to using sine waves.