P300-based Brain Computer

Interface (P300 BCI)

Prepared by Ozgen Sumer LACIN
Class: EE 517 Therapeutic and Prosthetic
Devices
Date: 11/12/2012

Outline of Presentation

BCI Definition & Methods

Potential Users of BCI and brief explanation of disease

Measuring Brain Activity

Invasive Methods (ECoG, Cortical Microelectrodes)
Non-invasive Methods ( EEG,MEG,fMRI,NIRS)

BCI Approaches to Communication

Slow Cortical Potentials (SCP)
Steady State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEP)
Motor Imagery Tasks
Evoked potentials (EP)

Framework of P300 System

1) Signal Acquisition
2) Feature Extraction
3) Feature Selection
4) Feature Classification

Comparison of classification techniques

METU BCI Research

BCI Companies

References

Brain Computer Interface (BCI)

Brain Computer Interface (BCI), is a system which allow people to

communicate with their environment and control prosthetic or other

external devices by using only their brain activity.
As a formal definition BCI is:
a communication system in which messages or commands sends to the
external world DO NOT PASS THROUGH THE BRAINS NORMAL
OUTPUT PATHWAYS OF PERIPHERAL NERVES AND MUSCLES
meaning BCI provides a new pathway for its user to communicate with
an external world. [1]

BCI methods
BCI can be divided into 2 subsections :
1) Dependent BCI: Doesnt use brains normal output pathways

to convey messages but activity in these pathways is needed to

generate activity. [1]
2) Independent BCI: Does not depend on any way of the brains

normal output pathways and the message is not carried with

peripheral muscles or nerves. The activity in these neurons is
not needed to generate the signal. [1]

BCI Approaches for

Communication
Slow Cortical Potentials (SCP)
Anticipation tasks
Steady State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEP)
Flickering light of specific frequency
Motor Imagery Tasks
Changes of mu rhytm, alpha and beta activity over the
sensorimotor areas
Imagination of hand, foot, tongue, movement
Evoked Potentials (EP)
Focus of attention to a visual or auditory stimulation
P300 Signals[5]

Potential users of BCI

BCI system is mainly designed for people suffering
from the following disease:
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
Multiple Sclerosis
Muscular Dystrophy
Cerebral Palsy
Brainstem Stroke
Spinal Cord Injury
Other types of Stroke [5]

Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis(ALS)

ALS is also known as motor neuron disease and
occurs due to the degeneration and lack of neural
cells in the Central Nervous Systems (CNS),
brainstem and spinal cord.
Due to these missing neural cells, disease is
characterized by rapidly progressive weakness,
muscle atrophy and fasciculations, muscle spasticity,
difficulty
speaking
(dysarthria),
difficulty
swallowing (dysphagia), and difficulty breathing
(dyspnea). [25]
ALS Disease

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Fig. Multiple Sclerosis Explanation

[21]

Multiple sclerosis (MS), also known as

"disseminated sclerosis". It is an
inflammatory disease in which the fatty
myelin sheaths around the axons of the
brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading
to demyelination and scarring.
Disease onset usually occurs in young
adults, and it is more common in women.
It has a prevalence that ranges between 2
and 150 per 100,000. [3]

Fig. 3 Demyelination [22]

Muscular dystrophy (MD)

Fig.4 Cell condtion

afterMuscular dystrophy [23]

Fig.5 demonstration of muscular

dystrophy on human body [24]

Muscular dystrophy (MD) is a group of

muscle diseases that weaken the
musculoskeletal system and hamper
locomotion. Muscular dystrophies are
characterized by progressive skeletal
muscle weakness, defects in muscle
proteins, and the death of muscle cells
and tissue.[4]

Cerebral Palsy & Brainstem Stroke

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of non-progressive, non-

contagious motor conditions that cause physical

disability in human development, chiefly in the various
areas of body movement
A Brain stem stroke syndrome is a condition involving a
stroke of the brain stem. Because of their location, they
often involve impairment both of the cranial nuclei and
of the long tracts.

Ways to overcome the disabilities

1) Improving the capabilities of remaining pathways
2) Restoring function by detouring around breaks in

the neural pathways that control muscles.

3)BCI for conveying messages and commands to

external world. [1]

The applications of BCI

Fig.6 Applications of BCI: i) Wheel chair, ii) robotic arm, iii)

speller

Framework of BCI System

Fig. 7: Frame work of BCI system [1]

Measuring the brain activity

Several ways to measure the brain activity which are electrical,

magnetic or hemodynamic activity measurements.

Electrical measurements are preferred due to their practical usage whereas

other measuring methodologies are not practical due to their size and nonportability, MEG, fMRI etc.
There are two basic methods for brain activity measurement.
i) Invasive methods i.e, require a surgical operation such as

electrocorticogram (ECoG) and microelectrode arrays

ii) Non-invasive method which does not require a surgical operation such as

electroencephalography(EEG), magnetoencephalography(MEG), near infrared

spectroscopy(NIRS), functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI)

Invasive Methods
Electrocorticogram and Cortical Microelectrodes

Electrocorticogram (ECoG) is an invasive method in which the

electrical signals of the brain are measured under the skull, from the
surface of the cortex.

Fig.8 ECoG demonstration of

the position of electrodes [14]

The electrodes are usually made

up of a conductive
biocompatible needle or a grid
of needles and are implemented
on the cortex surface with a
surgical operation.

Cortical Microelectrodes
Similar to ECoG but placed inside the cortex.
Electrodes developed with VLSI technology.
The signal quality is improved by integrated analog circuits

design.
Possible to detect the activity of a single neuron with high spatial
resolution and excellent signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)

Fig. 9 Cortical Microelectrodes [5]

Non-invasive methods
1) Electroencephalography (EEG)
2) Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
3) Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

4) Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS)

1)Electroencephalography(EEG)
Electroencephalography (EEG) is the recording of electrical

activity along the scalp.

EEG measures voltage fluctuations resulting from ionic current
flows within the neurons of the brain. [26]
EEG has three main clinical usage:
In neurology, the main diagnostic application of EEG is in the case
of epilepsy, as epileptic activity can create clear abnormalities on a
standard EEG study.
2) Diagnosis of coma, encephalopathies (disorder of brain), and brain
death.
3) Investigating sleep and sleep disorders. [26]
1)

EEG and its instruments

Fig 10. The measurement system consists of a number of electrodes, a

biopotential amplifier and recording/monitoring devices. [28]

First usages of EEG

Fig. 11 First EEG signal by Hans
Berger [26]

The first human EEG recording

obtained by Hans Berger in
1924. The upper tracing is EEG,
and the lower is a 10 Hz timing
signal.

EEG used to be a first-line method for the diagnosis of tumors, stroke and
other focal brain disorders, but this use has decreased with the advent of
anatomical imaging techniques with high (<1 mm) spatial resolution such
as MRI and CT. Despite limited spatial resolution, EEG continues to be a
valuable tool for research and diagnosis, especially when millisecond-range
temporal resolution (not possible with CT or MRI) is required.

Recording principle of EEG(1/2)

1) Electrodes are placed on a scalp with a conductive gel or paste after

preparing the area by light abrasion i.e., corrosion and remove dead
skins to reduce impedance. Cap is used for when high density array of
electrodes are needed. [26]
2) Each electrode is connected to one input of a differential amplifier, a
common system reference electrode is connected to the other input of
each differential amplifier. These amplifiers amplify the voltage between
the active electrode and the reference (typically 1,000100,000 times,
or 60100 dB of voltage gain) because a typical adult human EEG signal
is about 10V to 100 V in amplitude when measured from the scalp
and is about 1020 mV when measured from subdural electrodes. [26]

Recording principle of EEG(2/2)

In analog EEG, the signal is then filtered, and the amplified signal

is digitized via an analog-to-digital converter

Mainly there are 2 kinds of filters which are low-pass(LPF) and
high-pass filters(HPF).
LPF: filters out high-frequency artifacts, such as
electromyographic signals
HPF: filters out slow artifact, such as electrogalvanic signals and
movement artifact.

EEG CAP Specifications and

Electrode Positions

Fig. 12 The 10-20 international system is the standard naming and positioning
scheme for EEG applications [27]

Channel Selection
10 channels
Fz, Cz, C3, C4, Pz, P3, P4, PO7, PO8, Oz
Meinicke Kaper
Guger tech.

Advantages vs. Disadvantages

1)
2)
3)

4)
5)

Low spatial resolution

Determines only the
activity occurs on the
upper part of cortex
Unlike PET and MRS,
cannot identify
specific locations in
the brain
Takes long time to
connect
Low Signal to Noise
Ratio (SNR)

1)Cheap, silent, portable.

2) very high temporal resolution
3) relatively tolerant of subject movement,
unlike all other neuroimaging techniques
4) does not involve exposure to highintensity (>1 Tesla) magnetic fields, as in
some of the other techniques, especially
MRI and MRS.
5) studies can be conducted with relatively
simple paradigms

2) Magnetoencephalography(MEG)
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a technique for

mapping brain activity by recording magnetic fields

produced by electrical currents occurring naturally in
the brain, using very sensitive magnetometers.
Due to its size, its just impractical
for BCI applications.

Fig. 13 MEG device for clinical usage, [30]

3) Functional Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
fMRI is a method to measure the amount of oxygen in

the blood flowing through brain. When the neurons

are active the consumption of the oxygen increases in
the cells. Therefore it gives an idea about neural
activity in different regions of brain.
High spatial resolution
Low temporal resolution
Fig. 14 fMRI device for clinical usage
[31]

Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS)

Similar to fMRI.
The principle is to detect the
amount of blood oxygen in the brain
from the reflection of the emitted
infrared light. As the hemodynamic
activity is measured, the temporal
resolution is poor in NIRS systems,
which makes the method impractical
for BCI applications.

Fig. 15 NIRS and its characteristics

BCI Approaches to Communication

1) Slow Cortical Potentials
2) Steady State Visual Evoked Potentials
3) Motor Imagery Tasks

4) Evoked Potentials

1) Slow Cortical Potentials

They are among the lowest frequency features of scalp recorded

EEG.
These potential shifts occur over 0.510.0 s and are called slow
cortical potentials (SCPs). Negative SCPs are typically associated
with movement and other functions involving cortical activation,
while positive SCPs are usually associated with reduced cortical
activation .
They can be generalized as anticipation tasks [1]

1) Slow Cortical Potentials

Fig.16 SCP characteristics [1]

Success in patients in late stage ALS

2) Steady state evoked potentials

(SSVEP)
SSVEPs are oscillating signals elicited in the brain

according to frequency of presented visual

stimulation.
These signals are more distinctive in occipital regions
of the brain that is related to visual activities.
SSVEP is employed in BCI applications by the
presentation of several flickering light sources with
different frequencies. In such a paradigm, the focused
light elicits a signal pattern of the same frequency or
harmonics with that of the source. [1]

2) SSVEPs

1) http://www.bsp.brain.riken.jp/~hova/ssvep_data_Bakardjian_LABSP.html
2) Show videos

Sensory Motor Rhythms (SMR)

Idling activity can be called as mu-rhythm.(8-12 Hz during no

engagement)
The amplitude of the signals may change during different brain
activities such as concentrating, voluntary muscle movement.
Movement or preparation for movement is typically
accompanied by a decrease in mu and beta rhythms and
increase in alpha rhythm called as event-related desynchronization or ERD Its opposite, rhythm increase, or
event-related synchronization (ERS) occurs after movement
and with relaxation [1]
ERD and ERS do not require actual
movement, they occur also with motor imagery. [1]

SMR&ERD&ERS

Fig.17: Sensorimotor characteristics and ERD &ERS waves respectively [1]

Wave Characteristics

Table 1: Wave frequencies and characteristics [3]

P300 Speller
The idea in this paradigm is to detect the P300 responses elicited

by the subject and predict the focused character according to the

starting time of the P300 response.
The target character is at the intersection of 1 row and 1 column
intensification. When these two stimulations are found, it is easy
to predict the target character

Fig.17 P300 Characteristic Wave [4]

Oddball Paradigm & P300 Signals

The oddball paradigm is a technique used in evoked

potential research in which trains of stimuli that are

usually auditory or visual are used to assess the neural
reactions to unpredictable but recognizable events.
The subject is asked to react either by counting or by
button pressing incidences of target stimuli that are hidden
as rare occurrences amongst a series of more common
stimuli, that often require no response. It has been found
that an evoked research potential across the parietocentral area of the skull that is usually around 300 ms and
called P300 is larger after the target stimulus. [3]

Spelling Paradigm
2 target 12
nontarget visual
stimulations
Counting
the
target
intensifications
will elicit the so
called
P300
responses

Video 1: P300 speller [5]

P300 Speller
Target (P300) responses
Positive signal pattern peaking nearly 300 ms after the presentation of the target

stimulation
Have latency of 300 - 400ms

Non target responses

50

200

300 400 500

time (ms)
Channel Pz

600

700

0 0

-50

-50

100

200

100

300

400

500

600

200 time
300(ms)400 500
time
Channel
Cz (ms)
Channel Pz
Fig. 18 Target vs non-target amplitude
50 in P300 [5]
alue)

100

50 50

50

700

600

700

Amplitude (ADC value)

-50

Channel
Channel
OZ FZ

alue)

Amplitude (ADC value)

50

Amplitude (ADC value)

Channel FZ

C value)

C value)

Amplitude (ADC value)

Have lower amplitute

Pattern similar to a sinusoidal of the same frequency with the stimulation

P300 Based BCI Systems

Spelling Application
Intelligent House Systems with Virtual

Reality (VR)
Controlling robotic or prosthetic
devices.

P300 Speller
Problems :
The noise in EEG recordings
Factors in the cognitive process (fatigue, being unable to focus)
Repeating the intensification procedure for the focused

character
Reducing the effect of noise by ensemble averaging of the

observations.

Main Problem:
Decreasing prediction time. [5]

P300 Speller - Studies

Graz University of Technology, Pfurtscheller et al.

Wadsworth Center - Albany, Wolpaw et al.
Tsinghua University, Gao et al.
Fraunhofer-FIRST - Berlin, Blankertz & Mller
University of Rome - La Sapienza, Babiloni et al.
University of Tuebingen, Kbler & Birbaumer
University of Gttingen, Meinicke
Gtec Guger Technologies
Sabanc niversitesi, Argunsah et al.
...
[5]

P300 Signal Processing

1) Signal Acquisition

Fig. 19 Signal Acquisition

Block [1]

The extracted signal has very

low amplitude which is in the
level of microvolts.
Highly sensitive to external and
internal distortions.
Need
for
pre-processing
technique (filter) to enhance the
signal rather than just amplifying
the signal.

Signal Enhancement (1/2)

Signal enhancement is applied prior to feature

extraction to increase SNR. [2]

The use of a pre-processing technique has been proven
to be useful. [10]
Number of electrodes, recording technology and
neuromechanism of BCI are some of factors to
determine for a suitable technique.

Signal Enhancement(2/2)
Commonly used signal enhancement techniques are
1) Surface Laplacian (SL)
2) Common Average Referencing (CAR)

1) Surface Laplacian

Figure 20: Surface Laplacian[15]

Smeared and intermixed current flow from brain to head.

The spatial resolution of EEG decreases.
Surface Laplacian counters this effect by refocusing the
sensitivity characteristic of the EEG electrodes to a small
volume right below each electrode, thus eliminating the
intermixing of the brain currents. [15]

Common Average Referencing(CAR)

Fig. 21 Different Filtering Techniques i) Ear Reference, ii) Common

Average Reference, iii) Small Laplacian, iv) Large Laplacian [1]

The common average reference spatial filter calculates the mean of all channels,
and subtracts this value from the output channel of interest. [16]
If electrodes are equally spaced result is zero mean spatial distribution. [6]

Which spatial filter provides the

highest SNR?
Since noise is highly complex, hence; there is a need for a filter

with high SNR.

1) Ear reference?
2) Common Average Reference?

3) Small Laplacian?
4) Large Laplacian?

Small and Large Laplacian

Fig. 22: Demonstration of Small and Large

Laplacian [1]

Electrode numbers over entire

scalp and the surrounding
electrodes of reference points
are important.
The distances to the set of
surrounding electrodes
determine the spatial filtering
characteristics of the
Laplacian.
Small distance is more
sensitive to higher spatial
frequencies and less sensitive
to lower spatial frequencies

Results (1/2)

Fig. 23 Average voltage spectra for top targets (solid lines) and bottom targets (dashed lines) and
average spectra of r^2 for the top/bottom difference for all sessions of all subjects for the
locations that controlled cursor movement online.[6]

Results (2/2)

Table 2: SNR values of different filter techniques [6]

CAR and Large Laplacian have the highest SNR then Small Laplacian then
ear reference. [6]

Signal Enhancement Techniques

used in literature

Fig 24. Signal enhancement, feature selection /

dimensionality reduction and post-processing methods in
BCI designs. [2]

ERN= event-related negativity

SA-UK= Succesive averaging
and / or considering choice of
unknown
DSLVQ= Distinctive Sensitive
learning vector quantization
PCA= Principal Component
Analysis
GA= Genetic Algorithm
Freq-Norm= Frequency
normalization
CSSD= Common spatial
subspace decomposition
CSP= Common spatial
patterns
ICA= Independent component
analysis
PCA= Principal component
analysis
SL= Surface Laplacian
CAR= Common Average
Reference

Signal Processing part

Fig. 25 Signal Processing Block and its

components. [1]

Since the raw data from signal

acquisition block might contain
redundant information.(e.g.
EEG data)
1) Signals are digitally filtered
2) Unnecessary information is
eliminated by data selection. In
the preprocessing stage
3) Noise reduction, down
sampling etc. is done

1) Feature Extraction

Fig 26. Feature Extraction

MATLAB [17]

Fig 27. Feature

Extraction of a face. [18]

The feature extraction is the stage in

which the most relevant information for
classifying the EEG patterns is
investigated. Depending on the
complexity of the BCI application, the
feature extraction is performed either
manually or with the application of
optimization algorithms. The aim of this
stage is to improve the classification
performance of the BCI system and it is
usually performed together with the
classification stage.

Feature Extraction Methods used

in literature
In literature, scientists dealing with P300 based BCI

used the following techniques to extract features of

their signals.

Table 3. Feature extraction methods in BCI designs. Refer to appendix B in

supplementary data for a more detailed version of this table. [2]

The distribution of the feature extraction

techniques with respect to application
Our interest is P300
signals!!

Fig 27. Feature Extraction methods in BCI designs based on sensorimotor activity,
VEP, P300, SCP, response to mental tasks, activity of neural cells and multiple
neuromechanisms. [2]

Feature Extraction
Commonly used methodologies for BCI are:
1. Time and/or frequency methods.
Time methods have great temporal resolution whereas frequency methods
are preferred due to simplicity in use and fast computation.

2.

Combination of temporal content with spectral information

the time-frequency (TF)
Short time Fourier Transform & Wavelet Transformation are well known
ones.

Time Frequency (TF) Analysis

The main approach of TF analysis is the combination

of time and frequency by using both of their

advantages.
Time and frequency characteristics of ERD/ERS vary
according to subject and yields a lot of temporal &
spectral features.

Time Frequency Analysis

temporal resolution

Spectral resolution

Fig.28 Combination of temporal vs spectral resolution to obtain a TF

filter

What is Time-Frequency Analysis

briefly?
Analysis

providing
time-varying
spectral
representation of a signal which corresponds to the
power spectrum w.r.t time.
There are 2 methods:
Short Time Fourier Transform(STFT)
Morlet Wavelet Transform

STFT- briefly
STFT is fundamental for analyzing the slowly time

varying signal.
In contrast to FT, it can give information on the time
resolution of the spectrum by analyzing the frequency
response at different time instant.
Most popular one is Fast Fourier Transform(FFT)
based on STFT.

The methodology of STFT

Signal is multiplied by
a moving fixed length
window function
which is non- zero for
a short period of
time[4]. Then FT is
applied within the
window.
Fig. 29 STFT method for rectangular windowing
with 50% overlapping [10]

Morlet Wavelet Transform

Wavelet Transform decomposes signals into wavelets

which are localized both in time & frequency domain.

It is suitable for non-stationary signals (EEG signals).
Wavelet Transform is more realistic than STFT.
Varying window as a function of frequency (in STFT
fixed window).

Why Morlet Wavelet Transform?

It is used in P300-based BCI, because EEG signal has a

Gaussian distribution in both time & frequency

domain and also suitable for motor imagery patterns
The width of its sliding windows varies as a function of
frequency. [4]
Types of wavelet is determined according to the
characteristics of the signal to be processed.

Morlet Wavelet characteristics

Fig. 30 Morlet Wavelet characteristic Equation [4]

Feature Selection
Algorithms are used to find the most informative

features for classification. [2]

Transformation of raw signal into a new structure to
perform a better classification.
Remove the unnecessary information, keep the
discriminative ones.
Necessary in high dimension training data.
Higher classification accuracy and time saving.

Commonly used Feature Selection

methods
There are two mainly used feature selection methods

which are :
1) Principal Component Analysis (PCA)
2) Genetic Algorithms (GA)
3) Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ)
4) Common Spatial Pattern (CSP)

Principal Component
Analysis(PCA)
PCA is linear transformation that reduces

dimensionality while retaining the ones that

contributes to the variance most by keeping lower
order principal components and ignoring high-order
ones. Since low-order components contain most
important aspects of the data.

Genetic Algorithms
Heuristic (depends on exploring) search techniques.

Typically maintain a constant-sized population.

Tries to minimize the features to be used in

classification and maximize the performance of

classification..
Ideal for applications where domain knowledge and
theory is difficult or impossible to provide. (De Jong
1975)

Feature Selection Results (1/2)

[11]

[11]

[11]

Feature Selection Results (2/2)

As can be seen, the results using only the selected features are far better than those
using all features. This shows how important feature selection is in the context of
EEG classification where a lot of channels only partially contain information about
the studied phenomenon.[11]

Learning Vector Quantization

(LVQ)
Neural Network Based Method.

Aim is to find the proper reference vectors to be used

as the nearest neighbor classifier's reference set [4].

LVQ creates clusters of the training data and assigns
them to relevant classes.
The goal of LVQ is to find an optimal distribution of
the clusters in the n-dimensional vector space.[4]

Common Spatial Pattern (CSP)

The principal idea is to project the multi-channel EEG

data into a low-dimensional data by weighting the

signals measured from electrodes. [4]
The idea of CSP is to find a spatial filter such that the
projected signals have high power for one class and
low power for the other in order to provide
separability.

Classification
Translating brain signals into device commands is

achieved mainly by classification.

Understanding the features and their properties is
necessary to select the most appropriate classifier for
given BCI system.
Amplitude of EEG signals, Band Power (BP), Power
Spectral Density(PSD), Auto-regressive
parameters(AR) should be determined for the design
of BCI.

Critical Features of BCI system

noise and outliers

high dimensionality
time information
non-stationary

small training sets

Classifier Taxonomy
In order to choose the most appropriate classifier, the

properties of the available classifiers must be known.

1. Generative-discriminative
2. Static-dynamic
3. Stable-unstable
4. Regularized

Main classification problems

The curse of dimensionality
Training data should be at least 5-10 times more than

feature vector.
Unfortunately this cannot be applied in all BCI systems
due to training data set size.
The Bias-Variance trade-off
Classification error can be described under 3 major

possible sources

noise: noise in the system. it is irreducible.

bias: divergence between estimated and best mapping
variance: reflects the sensitivity to the training set.

Popular classification techniques

in BCI research
1) Linear Classifiers

2) Neural Networks
3) Non-linear Bayesian classifiers
4) Nearest Neighbor Classifiers

5) Combination of Classifiers

1) Linear Classifiers
Discriminant algorithms to distinguish the classes.

Probably most popular algorithms

There are two main classifier have been used:
Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA)

Support Vector Machine (SVM)

Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA)

Use hyperplanes to separate the different data.

One versus the rest.

For a two class problem:

Fig 32: A hyperplane which separates two classes: the circles and
the crosses [12]

Pros and Cons

Pros
1) Low computational requirement
2) Simple to use
3) Provides good and accurate results
4) Great number of success in BCI system [12]

Cons
1) Provides poor results on complex non-linear EEG

data. [12]

2) Support Vector Machine (SVM)

Also uses hyper-plane(s)

Good separation is achieved by the hyper-plane that

has the largest distance to the nearest training data

point of any class (called functional margin).
The larger the margin the lower the generalization
error of the classifier.

SVM
H3 (green) doesn't
separate the two classes.
H1 (blue) does, with a
small margin and H2
(red) with the
maximum margin. [13]

Fig 33. Support vector machine representation [13]

Neural Networks (NN)

Together with linear classifiers, they are mostly used

in BCI research.
NN is an assembly of artificial neurons.
NNs can be clustered under two categories:
1) Multilayer Perceptron (MLP)
2) Other Neural Network architectures

Multilayer Perceptron (MLP)

MLP is composed of several layers of neurons :
an input layer
several hidden layers
output layers

Fig 34. Artificial Neural Network of a

group of interconnected nodes [20]

when composed of enough neurons, MLP can

approximate any continuous function.

Other Neural Network

Architectures
1) There is one that among all NN architectures which

has been specially created for BCI: Gaussian Classifier

[13].
This classifier has been applied with success to motor
imagery and mental task classification.
BCI team in EPFL state that this NN outperforms
MLP on BCI data. [14]

Non- Linear Bayesian Classifiers

Bayesian classifiers produce nonlinear decision

boundaries.
Their generative characteristics enables them to
perform more efficient rejection of uncertain samples
than discriminative classifiers.
They are not widespread as linear classifiers or Neural
Networks in BCI applications because they are not fast
enough for real time BCI applications. [12].

4) Nearest Neighbor Classifiers

Supervised learning algorithm where classification of

new coming signal is based on nearest neighbor

classification.
The purpose is to sample the signal according to the
attribute of training samples.
Assume Dt is the distance between the training sample
and the actual sample. Choosing the minimum
distance will allow us to choose the prediction of class.

Nearest Neighbor Classification - NN

Fig. 35 Demonstration of the Nearest Neighbor Classification. Circles

and rectangles represent different classes. An unknown object (star) is
classified as a circle because the closest object is a circle.[12]

5) Combinations of Classifiers
Recent trend is to combine different classifiers.

Strategies are:

1) Boosting: Using several classifiers in cascade. Each

classifier focuses the errors committed by the previous

one.
2) Voting: Each different classifier assign the input
feature vector to a class. Majority will be the final class.
It is simple and efficient. (like political voting)
3) Stacking: Each of several classifiers classify the input
feature vector. Output of each of these classifiers is
given as input to a so-called meta-classifier.

Nominees for Classification

1) SVM

2) Dynamic classifiers
3) Combination of classifiers

Properties of Classifications

Table 4: Accuracy of classifiers in movement intention based

BCI [2]

Table 5: Accuracy of classifiers in pure motor imagery based BCI [2]

Table 5: Accuracy of classifiers in pure motor imagery based BCI

:multiclass and / or asynchronous case [2]

Table 5: Accuracy of classifiers in P300 speller BCI [2]

The classification award for BCI

goes to..

SVM

Classification Translation
Algorithm

Fig. 35 Classification Translation Algorithm [37]

In METU Brain Research LAB

There has been made two P300 based research:

1)

Hasan Balkar Erdogan: A DESIGN AND

IMPLEMENTATION OF P300 BASED BRAINCOMPUTER INTERFACE, 2009
2) Berna Akinci: REALIZATION OF A CUE BASED
MOTOR
IMAGERY
BRAIN
COMPUTER
INTERFACE WITH ITS POTENTIAL APPLICATION
TO A WHEELCHAIR, 2010

METU BCI Research

http://video.cnnturk.com/2010/bilim-

teknoloji/4/15/odtululer-beyin-sinyallerini-hareketecevirdi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnWSah4RD2E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppILwXwsMng&f

eature=fvwrel

BCI Companies in the world

1) Gtec

2) Emotiv Epoc

Gtec Projects:
1) ALIAS: Adaptable Ambient Living Assistant -

Mobile Robot System that interacts with elderly users,

monitors physiology and uses BCI for control.
2) SM4ALL: smart homes for all - use BCIs to control
smart homes
3) VERE: Virtual Embodiment and Robotic ReEmbodiment - BCIs for avatar control

Gtec research areas:

Emotiv - Epoc

Show video!

Thank you!!

References

[1] Wolpaw J.R., Birbaumer N., McFarland D.J., Pfurtscheller G., Vaughan T.M., Brain
Computer Interfaces for Communication and Control, Clinical Neurophysiology, 113:
767-791, March 2002

[2] Bashashati A. , Fatourechi M. , Ward R, A survey of signal processing algorithms in

brain-computer interfaces based on electrical brain signals. J. Neural Eng. R32-R57
2007

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P300_(neuroscience)#P3a_and_P3b

[4] Akinci,B. Realization of a cue based motor imagery brain computer interface with its
potential application to a wheel chair. ,METU Library, 2010

[5] Erdoan H. B., A Design and Implementation of P300 Based Brain- Computer Interface,
Metu Library, 2009.

[6] McFarland D.J., McCane L.M., David S.V., Wolpaw J.R., Spatial filter selection for EEG-based
communication, Electroencephalogr. Clin. Neurophysiol,Vol. 103, pp. 386-394.

References

[7] Chapin J.K., Nicolelis M.A. L., "Principle component analysis of neuronal ensemble activity
reveals multidimensional somatosensory representations", J. Neurosci. Meth, Vol. 94, pp. 121-140,
1999.

[8] Bayliss J.D., Ballard D.H., Recognizing Evoked Potentials in a Virtual Environment, NIPS, pp.
3-9, 1999. 137

[9] Ramoser H., Muller-Gerking J., Pfurtscheller G., Optimal spatial filtering of single trial EEG
during imagined hand movement, Rehabilitation Engineering, IEEE Transactions on Neural
Systems and Rehabilitation, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 441-446, Dec. 2000.

[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short-time_Fourier_transform

[11] Pregenzer M., Pfurtscheller G., "Frequency component selection for an EEG-based brain
computer interface (BCI)", IEEE Trans. Rehab Eng. Vol. 7, No. 3, Sep. 1999.

[12] Cover T. M., Hart P. E., Nearest neighbor pattern classification, IEEE Transactions Information
Theory, Vol. No. 13, pp. 21-27, 1967.

[13] http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/04/mind-controlled-wheelchair-prototype-is-trulyinsanely-awesome/

[14] https://wiki.engr.illinois.edu/display/BIOE414/ECoG

References
[15] http://ajatubar.feld.cvut.cz/bisig/research
[16]http://www.bci2000.org/wiki/index.php/User_Reference:SpatialFilter#CA

R
[17] http://www.idiap.ch/~marcel/labs/faceverif/face-verif-fordummies/facefeature-to-dct.png
[18] http://phucopierservice.com/nashuatec_micro/image-features-extractionmatlab-i0.jpg
[19]http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/digitalimaging/processing/spatialr
esolution/
[20] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_neural_network
[21] http://www.aafnh.org/wpcontent/uploads/2012/07/17089nlm_nih_gov.jpg
[22]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MS_Demyelinisation_CD68_10xv2.jpg
[23]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/MuscularD
ystrophy.png/230px-MuscularDystrophy.png
[

References
[24]http://www.humanillnesses.com/original/images/hdc_0001_0002_0_i

mg0181.jpg
[25] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyotrophic_lateral_sclerosis
[26] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroencephalography
[27]https://wiki.engr.illinois.edu/download/attachments/44733162/ecog.jp
g?version=1&modificationDate=1292382236000
[28] http://www.gtec.at/Research/Projects/ALIAS
[29]http://www.bci2000.org/wiki/index.php/User_Tutorial:EEG_Measure
ment_Setup
[30]http://www.theredmenmovie.com/2009/11/magnetoencephalographymeg-scanner.html
[31]http://blogs.oem.indiana.edu/scholarships/index.php/2009/10/26/neu
rons-and-electrodes/fmri_groot/
[32] Hoffman, U. Bayesian Machine Learning Applied in a Brain-Computer
Interface for Disabled Users, EPFL, 2007