Neural Alterations During Use Of A P300-Based Bci By Individuals With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Recent work has demonstrated that P300-based BCI systems can provide long-term communication for individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, even individuals with a successful history of BCI home use, can experience substantial variation in their day-to-day P300-based BCI performance. Recent studies suggest that functional connectivity among frontal-parietal cortical network governs the generation of P300 components. This study aims to characterize the correlates of EEG spectral and functional connectivity that underlie these fluctuations in performance during use of the P300-based BCI speller at home. Our results suggest that increased frontal-parietal functional connectivity and frontal non-phase locked theta band power modulations are associated with unsuccessful performance. The identified neural patterns suggest possible conscious/unconscious error-related adaptation mechanisms that can be associated with the realization of uncertainty and response conflict. These findings provide new insights into the underlying mechanisms of BCI performance variation and can inform the development of more robust BCI systems.