Towards improvement of MI-BCI performance of subjects with BCI deficiency

The subjects' performance in using a brain-computer interface (BCI) system controlled by motor imagery (MI) varies considerably. Poor subjects' performance, known as BCI deficiency, can be due to the subjects' inability to modulate their sensorimotor rhythms (SMRs). In this work, we investigated the feasibility of improving the BCI performance through neurofeedback (NF) training of the resting state alpha rhythm (8-13 Hz). Thirteen healthy subjects were recruited and randomly assigned to the experimental or the control group. The experimental group participated in a MI-BCI session, followed by 12 NF sessions, and a final MI-BCI sessions. The control group performed a MI-BCI session followed by a final MI-BCI session. The results showed that the performances of the experimental group after 12 sessions of NF significantly improved upon the initial MI-BCI performance (p=0.02) but not the control group (p=0.14). Moreover, the resting state alpha of the experimental group significantly improved after 12 sessions of NF (p=0.04). In conclusion, the proposed approach is promising to address BCI deficiency.