Movement-Related Cortical Potentials and Their Application in Brain-Computer Interfacing

Brain - computer interface (BCI) systems aim at providing a nonmuscular communication and control channel to patients with severe disabilities or at promoting neuroplasticity. Motor imagery is the most common approach to producing electroencephalogram (EEG) changes in EEG-based BCI research. This chapter discusses an alternative approach for distinguishing movement-related parameters, such as speed, for the same imagined task. This approach provides a more intuitive way of control for the user and increases the potential number of commands. The chapter explains a series of studies that analyze the characteristics of movement-related cortical potentials (MRCPs), and explores their potential application to BCI. It describes the characteristics of MRCPs and how these characteristics are modulated by movement parameters, such as speed and torque. It also discusses these results from the viewpoint of applying MRCPs generated during imagined movements of the same joint as control signals for BCIs.