A vision-free brain-computer interface (BCI) paradigm based on auditory selective attention

Majority of the recently developed brain computer interface (BCI) systems have been using visual stimuli or visual feedbacks. However, the BCI paradigms based on visual perception might not be applicable to severe locked-in patients who have lost their ability to control their eye movement or even their vision. In the present study, we investigated the feasibility of a vision-free BCI paradigm based on auditory selective attention. We used the power difference of auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) when the participant modulates his/her attention to the target auditory stimulus. The auditory stimuli were constructed as two pure-tone burst trains with different beat frequencies (37 and 43 Hz) which were generated simultaneously from two speakers located at different positions (left and right). Our experimental results showed high classification accuracies (64.67%, 30 commands/min, information transfer rate (ITR) = 1.89 bits/min; 74.00%, 12 commands/min, ITR = 2.08 bits/min; 82.00%, 6 commands/min, ITR = 1.92 bits/min; 84.33%, 3 commands/min, ITR = 1.12 bits/min; without any artifact rejection, inter-trial interval = 6 sec), enough to be used for a binary decision. Based on the suggested paradigm, we implemented a first online ASSR-based BCI system that demonstrated the possibility of materializing a totally vision-free BCI system.