253
Views
3
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Article

Challenges of implementing a personalized mental task near-infrared spectroscopy brain–computer interface for a non-verbal young adult with motor impairments

&
Pages 99-107 | Received 25 Apr 2015, Accepted 24 Aug 2015, Published online: 12 Oct 2015
 

Abstract

Purpose: Near-infrared spectroscopy brain–computer interfaces (NIRS-BCIs) have been proposed as potential motor-free communication pathways. This paper documents the challenges of implementing an NIRS-BCI with a non-verbal, severely and congenitally impaired, but cognitively intact young adult. Methods: A 5-session personalized mental task NIRS-BCI training paradigm was invoked, whereby participant-specific mental tasks were selected either by the researcher or by the user, on the basis of prior performance or user preference. Results: Although the personalized mental task selection and training framework had been previously demonstrated with able-bodied participants, the participant was not able to exceed chance-level accuracies. Challenges to the acquisition of BCI control may have included disinclination to BCI training, structural or functional brain atypicalities, heightened emotional arousal and confounding haemodynamic patterns associated with novelty and reward processing. Conclusions: Overall, we stress the necessity for further clinical NIRS-BCI research involving non-verbal individuals with severe motor impairments.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all of the members of the PRISM Lab, specifically, Ka Lun Tam for his technical help with this project, and Amanda Fleury for her help with the headband. We would also like to thank Dr. Kaori Takehara-Nishiuchi for her help and guidance. Finally, we would like to thank Holland Bloorview Research Institute, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), NSERC Create: Care, and University of Toronto Institute for Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering for their support.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 65.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 263.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.