Abstract
A novel musical instrument and biofeedback device was created using electroencephalogram (EEG) posterior dominant rhythm (PDR) or mu rhythm to control a synthesized piano, which we call the Encephalophone. Alpha-frequency (8–12 Hz) signal power from PDR in the visual cortex or from mu rhythm in the motor cortex was used to create a power scale which was then converted into a musical scale, which could be manipulated by the individual in real time. Subjects could then generate different notes of the scale by activation (event-related synchronization) or de-activation (event-related desynchronization) of the PDR or mu rhythms in visual or motor cortex, respectively. Fifteen novice normal subjects were tested in their ability to hit target notes presented within a 5-min trial period. All 15 subjects were able to perform more accurately (average of 27.4 hits, 67.1% accuracy for visual cortex/PDR signaling; average of 20.6 hits, 57.1% accuracy for mu signaling) than a random note generation (19.03% accuracy). Moreover, PDR control was significantly more accurate than mu control. This shows that novice healthy individuals can control music with better accuracy than random, with no prior training on the device, and that PDR control is more accurate than mu control for these novices. Individuals with more years of musical training showed a moderate positive correlation with more PDR accuracy, but not mu accuracy. The Encephalophone may have potential applications both as a novel musical instrument without requiring movement, as well as a potential therapeutic biofeedback device for patients suffering from motor deficits (e.g., amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), brainstem stroke, traumatic amputation).
Highlights
Since early in the history of the use of electroencephalogram (EEG) for measurement of electrical patterns of the human brain, efforts have been made to transform EEG electrical activity into sound
We describe the creation of the Encephalophone, a musical instrument and biofeedback device that uses visual cortex posterior dominant rhythm (PDR) or motor cortex mu rhythm to consciously and volitionally control the generation of scalar music
Each individual subject scored significantly higher than random in accuracy for both PDR and mu control (Figure 2): p values ranged from 6.3 × 10−36 to 2.8 × 10−3
Summary
Since early in the history of the use of electroencephalogram (EEG) for measurement of electrical patterns of the human brain, efforts have been made to transform EEG electrical activity into sound. Conversion of EEG signals to not just sound, but musical modalities, followed later: in 1965, the composer and experimental musician Lucier (1965) created a performance involving control of percussion instruments via strength of EEG PDR, with the encouragement and participation of composer John Cage. They experienced some difficulty in achieving good control, and to overcome this employed a second performer manually adjusting the gain from the EEG output (Rosenboom, 1975)
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