title: Emotional faces boost up steady-state visual responses for brain-computer interface.
abstract: Steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) can be used successfully for brain-computer interfaces (BCI) with multiple commands and high information transfer rates. In this study, we investigated a novel affective SSVEP paradigm using flickering video clips of emotional human faces, and evaluated their performance in an 8-command BCI controlling a robotic arm in near real-time. Single-trial affective SSVEP responses, estimated using a new phase-locking value variability and a wavelet energy variability measures, were significantly enhanced compared with blurred-face flicker and standard checkerboards. For multicommand SSVEP-based BCI, affective face-flicker boosted up the information transfer rates from 50 to 64 bits/min, while reducing user fatigue and enhancing visual attention and reliability. In the 5-12 Hz flicker frequency range, the strongest affective SSVEP responses were obtained at 10 Hz. These findings suggest new directions for SSVEP-based neural applications, including affective BCI and enhanced steady-state clinical probes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Advanced Brain Signal Processing, Brain Science Institute, RIKEN, Wako-shi, Saitama, Japan. hova@brain.riken.jp
authors.forename: Hovagim
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bakardjian
authors.forename: Toshihisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cichocki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003199:Computer Systems / Q000592:standards; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005145:Face / Q000502:physiology*; D005221:Fatigue / Q000517:prevention & control; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult