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| 4.
BCI - Brain–computer interfaces |
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4.1.
Definition and features of a BCI
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4.1.2. BCI use is a skill |
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A BCI changes electrophysiological signals from mere reflections
of central nervous system activity into the intended products
of that activity: messages and commands that act on the world.
It changes a signal such as an EEG rhythm or a neuronal firing
rate from a reflection of brain function into the end product
of that function: an output that accomplishes the person's intent.
A BCI replaces nerves and muscles and the movements
they produce with electrophysiological signals and the hardware
and software that translate those signals into actions.
The brain's normal neuromuscular output channels depend for
their successful operation on feedback.
As a replacement for the brain's normal neuromuscular output
channels, a BCI also depends on feedback and on adaptation of
brain activity based on that feedback. Thus, a BCI system
must provide feedback and must interact in a productive fashion
with the adaptations the brain makes in response to that feedback.
This means that BCI operation depends on the interaction of
two adaptive controllers: the user's brain and the BCI itself.
Successful BCI operation requires that the user develop and
maintain a new skill, a skill that consists not of proper muscle
control but rather of proper control of specific electrophysiological
signals; and it also requires that the BCI translate that control
into output that accomplishes the user's intent. In the independent
BCI the P300 generated in response
to the desired letter occurs without training. Nevertheless,
once this P300 is engaged as a communication channel, it is
likely to undergo adaptive modification, and the recognition
and productive engagement of this adaptation will be important
for continued successful BCI operation.
Source:
Brain–computer
interfaces for communication and control, Clinical Neurophysiology
113 (2002) 767–791, Jonathan R. Wolpaw, Niels Birbaumer, Dennis
J. McFarland, Gert Pfurtscheller, Theresa M. Vaughan |
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