title: Brain-computer interface research at the University of South Florida Cognitive Psychophysiology Laboratory: the P300 Speller.
abstract: We describe current efforts to implement and improve P300-BCI communication tools. The P300 Speller first described by Farwell and Donchin (in 1988) adapted the so-called oddball paradigm (OP) as the operating principle of the brain-computer interface (BCI) and was the first P300-BCI. The system operated by briefly intensifying each row and column of a matrix and the attended row and column elicited a P300 response. This paradigm has been the benchmark in P300-BCI systems, and in the past few years the P300 Speller paradigm has been solidified as a promising communication tool. While promising, we have found that some people who have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) would be better suited with a system that has a limited number of choices, particularly if the 6 x 6 matrix is difficult to use. Therefore, we used the OP to implement a four-choice system using the commands: Yes, No, Pass, and End; we also used three presentation modes: auditory, visual, and auditory and visual. We summarize results from both paradigms and also discuss obstacles we have identified while working with the ALS population outside of the laboratory environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA. esellers@wadsworth.org
authors.forename: Eric W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Sellers
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kübler
authors.forename: Emanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Donchin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D018913:Event-Related Potentials, P300 / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005431:Florida; D006801:Humans; D009468:Neuromuscular Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011603:Psychophysiology / Q000379:methods; D012107:Research Design; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D014495:Universities; D014584:User-Computer Interface