Patients with ALS can use sensorimotor rhythms to operate a brain-computer interface.
People with severe motor disabilities can maintain an acceptable quality of life if they can communicate. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), which do not depend on muscle control, can provide communication. Four people severely disabled by ALS learned to operate a BCI with EEG rhythms recorded over sensorimotor cortex. These results suggest that a sensorimotor rhythm-based BCI could help maintain quality of life for people with ALS.
Kübler
A
A
Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, Eberhard-Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Nijboer
F
F
Mellinger
J
J
Vaughan
T M
TM
Pawelzik
H
H
Schalk
G
G
McFarland
D J
DJ
Birbaumer
N
N
Wolpaw
J R
JR
D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D019054:Evoked Potentials, Motor / Q000502:physiology*; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D010243:Paralysis / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014584:User-Computer Interface