OPTIM IMIZATION OF STEADY-STATE O ATE VISUAL A RESPONSES P E FOR ROBUST BRAIN-COMPUTER R U AIN C M U INTERFAC S R ACES

PH.D. THESIS

Hovagim Bakardjian
A Dissertation Submitted in partial fulfillment of The requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Department of Electronic and Information Engineering Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology 2010

ABSTRACT

The emergence of successful Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) that can assist the healthy and aid the disabled users, has introduced new limitless possibilities for wider use of brain technology in society. Yet, existing BCI designs are still unable to fulfill such high expectations due to restricted reliability, insufficient usability, and inadequate understanding of the underlying brain mechanisms. This work aimed to address directly the above problems by presenting and optimizing two new multi-command BCI designs based on Steady-State Visual Evoked Potential (SSVEP) brain responses. SSVEP brain activity is elicited in precise synchrony with observed flickering visual patterns. The main goal of the work in this thesis was to optimize in new ways the information transfer rates and the reliability of multi-command SSVEPbased BCI systems. This was accomplished using two approaches: (1) Stimulus optimization to achieve maximal cortical response (frequency, size, movement, contents) for further use in BCI, and (2) Development of sensitive adaptive algorithms to extract weak target oscillations from noisy EEG input signals immediately after SSVEP onset, based on the estimation of single-trial narrowband-energy changes (online) as well as on new phase-locking- and wavelet-energy variability measures (offline). To understand in detail the properties of the SSVEP stimuli for BCI, EEG experiments were performed with very small checkerboard patterns. Challenging small-sized SSVEP stimuli were introduced to allow more flexible BCI designs through taking up as little visual estate as possible, even at the cost of reduced SSVEP signal strength. The frequencyresponse curve for these small SSVEP patterns was studied for 32 frequencies between 5 and 84Hz. Understanding the SSVEP frequency characteristics for small checkerboards allowed the pinpoint definition of optimal parameters and limitations of the investigated checkerboard-based SSVEP-BCI paradigm, as well as better control of inter-subject variability. The SSVEP time dynamics for 8, 14 and 28Hz stimulation and three sensor locations (occipital, parieto-temporal and frontal) was investigated in a further series of experiments, aiming to establish the time-delay limitations of the SSVEP brain response as captured by the online BCI. The knowledge acquired from these neurophysiological experiments was utilized for the optimal design of an 8-command SSVEP-based BCI system. A novel dynamic feedback paradigm was created which featured a set of eight small checkerboard patterns assembled in a very tight but simultaneously moving 2-D spatial configuration, fixed around a main object, and controlled by the users intent. Due to this

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