title: A Novel Audiovisual Brain-Computer Interface and Its Application in Awareness Detection.
abstract: Currently, detecting awareness in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC) is a challenging task, which is commonly addressed through behavioral observation scales such as the JFK Coma Recovery Scale-Revised. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) provide an alternative approach to detect awareness in patients with DOC. However, these patients have a much lower capability of using BCIs compared to healthy individuals. This study proposed a novel BCI using temporally, spatially, and semantically congruent audiovisual stimuli involving numbers (i.e., visual and spoken numbers). Subjects were instructed to selectively attend to the target stimuli cued by instruction. Ten healthy subjects first participated in the experiment to evaluate the system. The results indicated that the audiovisual BCI system outperformed auditory-only and visual-only systems. Through event-related potential analysis, we observed audiovisual integration effects for target stimuli, which enhanced the discriminability between brain responses for target and nontarget stimuli and thus improved the performance of the audiovisual BCI. This system was then applied to detect the awareness of seven DOC patients, five of whom exhibited command following as well as number recognition. Thus, this audiovisual BCI system may be used as a supportive bedside tool for awareness detection in patients with DOC.
authors.affiliation: 1] Center for Brain Computer Interfaces and Brain Information Processing, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China [2] Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Brain Computer Interaction and Applications, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Coma Research Group, Centre for Hyperbaric Oxygen and Neurorehabilitation, Guangzhou General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command, Guangzhou 510010, China.
authors.forename: Yanbin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: 1] Center for Brain Computer Interfaces and Brain Information Processing, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China [2] Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Brain Computer Interaction and Applications, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Jiahui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Coma Research Group, Centre for Hyperbaric Oxygen and Neurorehabilitation, Guangzhou General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command, Guangzhou 510010, China.
authors.forename: Qiuyou
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Coma Research Group, Centre for Hyperbaric Oxygen and Neurorehabilitation, Guangzhou General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command, Guangzhou 510010, China.
authors.forename: Ronghao
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: 1] Center for Brain Computer Interfaces and Brain Information Processing, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China [2] Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Brain Computer Interaction and Applications, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: 1] Center for Brain Computer Interfaces and Brain Information Processing, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China [2] Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Brain Computer Interaction and Applications, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Yuanqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D062207:Brain-Computer Interfaces; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation