title: Brain-computer interfacing in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Implications of a resting-state EEG analysis.
abstract: Despite decades of research on EEG-based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), there is still little known about how the disease affects the electromagnetic field of the brain. This may be one reason for the present failure of EEG-based BCI paradigms for completely locked-in ALS patients. In order to help understand this failure, we have recorded resting state data from six ALS patients and thirty-two healthy controls to investigate for group differences. While similar studies have been attempted in the past, none have used high-density EEG or tried to distinguish between physiological and non-physiological sources of the EEG. We find an ALS-specific global increase in gamma power (30-90 Hz) that is not specific to the motor cortex, suggesting that the mechanism behind ALS affects non-motor cortical regions even in the absence of comorbid cognitive deficits.
authors.forename: Vinay
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jayaram
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Widmann
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Förster
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fomina
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hohmann
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Müller Vom Hagen
authors.forename: Matthis
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Synofzik
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schölkopf
authors.forename: Ludger
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schöls
authors.forename: Moritz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grosse-Wentrup
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D062207:Brain-Computer Interfaces; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000378:metabolism