title: Brain Painting: First Evaluation of a New Brain-Computer Interface Application with ALS-Patients and Healthy Volunteers.
abstract: Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) enable paralyzed patients to communicate; however, up to date, no creative expression was possible. The current study investigated the accuracy and user-friendliness of P300-Brain Painting, a new BCI application developed to paint pictures using brain activity only. Two different versions of the P300-Brain Painting application were tested: A colored matrix tested by a group of ALS-patients (n = 3) and healthy participants (n = 10), and a black and white matrix tested by healthy participants (n = 10). The three ALS-patients achieved high accuracies; two of them reaching above 89% accuracy. In healthy subjects, a comparison between the P300-Brain Painting application (colored matrix) and the P300-Spelling application revealed significantly lower accuracy and P300 amplitudes for the P300-Brain Painting application. This drop in accuracy and P300 amplitudes was not found when comparing the P300-Spelling application to an adapted, black and white matrix of the P300-Brain Painting application. By employing a black and white matrix, the accuracy of the P300-Brain Painting application was significantly enhanced and reached the accuracy of the P300-Spelling application. ALS-patients greatly enjoyed P300-Brain Painting and were able to use the application with the same accuracy as healthy subjects. P300-Brain Painting enables paralyzed patients to express themselves creatively and to participate in the prolific society through exhibitions.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tübingen Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Jana I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Münßinger
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Halder
authors.forename: Sonja C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Kleih
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Furdea
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Raco
authors.forename: Adi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hösle
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kübler