The Effect of Real-time Feedback on Users Ability to Improve Consistency of NIRS Detectable Signals

• Main Author: Liddle, Stephanie
• Other Authors: Chau, Tom
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: near-infrared spectroscopy; brain computer interface; feedback; rehabilitation engineering; 0541
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/18814

Individuals with limited motor control are often unable to interact with their environment. Recently, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) systems have been investigated as potential brain-computer interfaces (BCI). Previous studies examined data offline, preventing users from understanding how their thoughts triggered the NIRS system. This thesis focused on understanding the short-term effects of feedback on user’s ability to learn how to control BCIs. Data were collected from control and experimental groups over seven sessions, as they performed fast singing imagery or mental arithmetic. Significant differences were observed between the control group’s results in non-feedback sessions and the experimental group’s results in feedback sessions. Qualitative results from 3 of the 10 participants suggested they had control of the feedback system. They performed the task with online accuracies of 61% - 88% in the final 2 sessions with feedback. These results suggest that continued investigation of NIRS feedback systems is warranted.