Stimulus modality influences session-to-session transfer of training effects in auditory and tactile streaming-based P300 brain\u2013computer interfaces

P Ziebell,M E Latoschik,J Stümpfig,A Kübler,S C Kleih,S Halder,M Eidel

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-67887-6

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Journal: Scientific Reports	Publication Date: Jul 17, 2020
Citations: 12	License type: open-access

Affiliation: University of Würzburg, University of Essex

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Despite recent successes, patients suffering from locked-in syndrome (LIS) still struggle to communicate using vision-independent brain–computer interfaces (BCIs). In this study, we compared auditory and tactile BCIs, regarding training effects and cross-stimulus-modality transfer effects, when switching between stimulus modalities. We utilized a streaming-based P300 BCI, which was developed as a low workload approach to prevent potential BCI-inefficiency. We randomly assigned 20 healthy participants to two groups. The participants received three sessions of training either using an auditory BCI or using a tactile BCI. In an additional fourth session, BCI versions were switched to explore possible cross-stimulus-modality transfer effects. Both BCI versions could be operated successfully in the first session by the majority of the participants, with the tactile BCI being experienced as more intuitive. Significant training effects were found mostly in the auditory BCI group and strong evidence for a cross-stimulus-modality transfer occurred for the auditory training group that switched to the tactile version but not vice versa. All participants were able to control at least one BCI version, suggesting that the investigated paradigms are generally feasible and merit further research into their applicability with LIS end-users. Individual preferences regarding stimulus modality should be considered.

Highlights

Despite recent successes, patients suffering from locked-in syndrome (LIS) still struggle to communicate using vision-independent brain–computer interfaces (BCIs)
The major aim of the current study was to replicate and further explore this auditory streaming-based P300 BCI and in addition to that, since the streaming paradigm has not yet been tested with tactile stimuli, to design and test a two-class tactile streaming-based P300 BCI. Since this is our first study involving this streaming approach, we focused on healthy participants and since we were interested in two BCI versions, we aimed at providing further information on comparisons of auditory and tactile s timuli[27,28]
Group A showed a descriptive amplitude increase from t1 to t2 that remained stable towards t3 and showed a further increase when switching to the tactile BCI at t4

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Introduction

Patients suffering from locked-in syndrome (LIS) still struggle to communicate using vision-independent brain–computer interfaces (BCIs). Since a main target group for BCIs consists of patients suffering from locked-in syndrome (LIS), a severe form of paralysis that can lead to drastic problems regarding vision, the limits of the common visual P300 BCI have been pointed out and various alternatives of P300 eliciting stimulation approaches have been developed[9,10,11]. Among those approaches, auditory and tactile P300 BCIs have become a recent focus of research[12,13,14,15]. First encouraging results with healthy participants and two additional LIS end-users have been reported, suggesting that the streaming paradigm could be a feasible low workload a lternative[25,26]

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