Introduction:
This current study is part of a larger, on-going clinical trial (NCT02098265), which evaluates non-invasive electroencephalographic (EEG) based brain-computer interface(BCI) therapy for restoration of distal upper extremity motor function in stroke survivors. We acquired data for 8 participants (mean age= 64 years) presenting with varying levels of upper-extremity motor deficits and chronicity since stroke. EEG based BCI task-related performance outcomes were compared with distal extremity behavioral testing on the 9-Hole Peg Test - 9HPT) to illustrate the relationship of BCI training performance on behavioral performance.
Methods:
EEG data is acquired with BCI2000, a 16 channel recording system (g.LADYbird-g. GAMMAsys-g. USBamp, Guger Technologies, Graz, Austria) with electrodes positioned according to the standard 10-20 system over the sensorimotor cortex at C3 & C4. Participants performed a hand movement task; randomly cued to move either their affected or unaffected hand depending on the appearance of virtual target and cursor on the screen. 9HPT Data was selected from two BCI conditions: 1) BCI with visual stimulus only, and 2) BCI with visual stimulation plus functional electrical stimulation (FES) of the impaired arm, and tongue stimulation (TS) at four time-points: baseline (prior to BCI therapy), mid-point of BCI therapy, post-therapy, and one month post-therapy.
Results:
BCI visual plus stimulus for the unaffected side was found to best relate to 9HPT scores (p= 0.0928) with a trend to significance. BCI visual plus stimulus for the affected side was not shown to correlate with 9HPT scores (p= 0.2655). The results suggest that 9HPT scores better relate with average task accuracy when the TS and FES adjuvants are incorporated (BCI stimulus vs 9H PT unaffected p= 0.09284, BCI stimulus vs 9H PT affected p= 0.26553) compared to the BCI visual only task (BCI visual vs 9HPT unaffected p=0.2702, BCI visual vs 9HPT affected (p= 0.89276).
Conclusion:
Non-invasive EEG-based BCI therapy may be suitable for the restoration of distal upper extremity motor function but average task accuracy does not appear to be a valid indicator of motor improvement. This finding suggests that visual only BCI systems are inadequate for motor rehabilitation.
A review of the progression and future implications of brain-computer interface therapies for restoration of distal upper extremity motor function after stroke
