Brain

Computer
Interface
1. INTRODUCTION:-
A Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) provides a new communication channel
between the human brain and the computer. Simply put, a brain-computer
interface is a way to connect the brain to an external device in order to send and
receive information directly from it. The 100 billion neurons communicate via
minute electrochemical impulses, shifting patterns sparking like fireflies on a
summer evening that produce movement, expression, words. Mental activity leads
to changes of electrophysiological signals.
The BCI system detects such changes and transforms it into a control signal. In
the case of cursor control, for example, the signal is transmitted directly from the
brain to the mechanism directing the cursor, rather than taking the normal route
through the body's neuromuscular system from the brain to the finger on a mouse.
By reading signals from an array of neurons and using computer chips and
programs to translate the signals into action, BCI can enable a person suffering
from paralysis to write a book or control a motorized wheelchair or prosthetic
limb through thought alone Many physiological disorders such as Amyotrophic
Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or injuries such as high-level spinal cord injury can
disrupt the communication path between the brain and the body. This is where
brain computer interface comes into play contributing for beneficial real time
services and applications.
The Wonder Machine – Human Brain:-
The reason a BCI works at all is because of the way our brains function. Our
brains are filled with neurons, individual nerve cells connected to one another by
dendrites and axons. Every time we think, move, feel or remember something, our
neurons are at work. That work is carried out by small electric signals that zip
from neuron to neuron as fast as 250 mph. The signals are generated by
differences in electric potential carried by ions on the membrane of each neuron.
Although the paths the signals take are insulated by something called myelin,
some of the electric signal escapes. Scientists can detect those signals, interpret
what they mean and use them to direct a device of some kind. It can also work the
other way around.
For example, researchers could figure out what signals are sent to the brain by the
optic nerve when someone sees the color red. They could rig a camera that would
send those exact signals into someone's brain whenever the camera saw red,
allowing a blind person to "see" without eyes.
The process of getting thoughts out of our heads and into the real world is
incredibly slowed down as they first have to be converted to mechanical motion,
whether it’s our fingers to write or type, or our larynx to speak and pronounce. As
you can see, we listen 10x faster then we write. This holds true not just for language
but any form of information- images, video, and audio.

figure 1.0:

This gets at the very problem BCI’s are aiming to solve: increasing our cognitive
bandwidth, as our Input ability exponentially exceeds our Output ability.
2. HISTORY :-
The history of brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) starts with Hans Berger's
discovery of the electrical activity of the human brain and the development of
electroencephalography (EEG). In 1924 Berger was the first to record human
brain activity by means of EEG. Berger was able to identify oscillatory activity in
the brain by analyzing EEG traces. One wave he identified was the alpha wave
(8–13 Hz), also known as Berger's wave.
Berger's first recording device was very rudimentary. He inserted silver wires
under the scalps of his patients. These were later replaced by silver foils attached
to the patients' head by rubber bandages. Berger connected these sensors to a
Lippmann capillary electrometer, with disappointing results. More sophisticated
measuring devices, such as the Siemens double-coil recording galvanometer,
which displayed electric voltages as small as one ten thousandth of a volt, led to
success.
Berger analyzed the interrelation of alternations in his EEG wave diagrams with
brain diseases. EEGs permitted completely new possibilities for the research of
human brain activities.
The mid-1990s marked the appearance of the first neuroprosthetic devices for
humans. BCI doesn’t read the mind accurately, but detects the smallest of changes
in the energy radiated by the brain when you think in a certain way. A BCI
recognizes specific energy/ frequency patterns in the brain.
June 2004 marked a significant development in the field when Matthew Nagle
became the first human to be implanted with a BCI, Cybernetics’s BrainGate.

Figure 2.1 Restoring paralysis using BCI’s (2004)

BCI has had a long history centered on control applications: cursors, paralyzed
body parts, robotic arms, phone dialing, etc.

Figure 2.2 First Human-to-Human BCI: researcher send brain signal over the
Internet to control his colleague’s arm (2013)

Figure 2.3 Paralyzed woman able to type 8 words per minute just using her
mind (2017)
3. HOW BCI WORKS:-
To know the answer of this question i.e. how BCI (Brain Computer Interface
works) first you aware about how your brain works? In simple terms, your brain
is divided into two main sections:
 The limbic system
 The neocortex.
The limbic system is responsible for our primal urges, as well as those related to
survival, such as eating and reproducing. Our neocortex is the most advanced area,
and it’s responsible for logical functions that make us good at languages,
technology, business, and philosophy. The human brains contains about 86 billion
nerve cells called neurons, each individually linked to other neurons by way of
connectors called axons and dendrites. Every time, we think, move or feel, neurons
are at work. Indeed, the brain generates huge amount of neural activities. Basically,
small electric signals that moves from neuron to neuron are doing the work.
How neurons talks to each other
When the axons of one neuron releases neurotransmitters to the dendrites of
another, that chemical reaction changes the receiving neuron’s charge to positive,
causing it to fire an electric signal which is called an “action potential”

Figure 3.1 Action Potential diagram

These action potentials are binary- it’s either on or off with no middle state and
could travel anywhere between 1 to 100 meters per second depending the axon
layering of myelin sheath, which not only coats and protects axons, but speeds up
the electric impulse.
 Figure 3.2 Basic block diagram of a BCI system incorporating signal
production, signal detection, processing and deployment
a) Signal Production:-
There are two ways of producing these brain signals:
1. Actively Generating Signals by presenting stimuli to the subjects (e.g.
pictures, sounds, etc.).
2. Just reading brain waves that are already by generated by the subject.
Actively Generating Signals has the advantage that signal detection is easier as
compared to just reading brain waves from the subject.
b) Signal Detection:-
There are different ways to detect brain signals. The most well known are EEG
and fMRI, but there are others as well. EEG measures the electrical activity of
the brain, fMRI the blood-flow in the brain. Each of these methods have their
own dis/advantages. Some have a better temporal resolution (they can detect
brain-activity as it happens), while others have a better spatial resolution (they
can pin-point the location of activity).
c) Signal Processing:-
One of the issues we will find when dealing with brain-data, is that the data
tends to contain a lot of noise. When using EEG, for example, things like
grinding of the teeth will show in the data, as well as eye-movements. This noise
needs to be filtered out.
The data can now be used for detecting actual signals. When the subject is
actively generating signals, we are usually aware of the kind of signals we want
 to detect. One example is the P300 wave, which is a so-called event related
potential that will show up when an infrequent, task-relevant stimulus is
presented. This wave will show up as a large peak in your data and you might
try different techniques from machine learning to detect such peaks.
d) Signal Transduction:-
When you have detected the interesting signals in your data, you want to use
them in some way that is helpful to someone. The subject could for example use
the BCI to control a mouse by means of imagined movement. One problem you
will encounter here is that you need to use the data you receive from the subject
as efficiently as possible, while at the same time you have to keep in mind that
BCI’s can make mistakes. Current BCI’s are relatively slow and make mistakes
once in a while (For instance, the computer thinks you imagined left-hand
movement, while in fact you imagined right-hand movement).”

Figure 3.3
4. APPLICATIONS
i. Device control:-
Research on BCIs to assist users lacking full limb development has matured to
the point that such users are already benefiting, even though the devices offer
limited speed, accuracy, and efficiency.
Nonmedical device control is more problematic. Users with full muscular
control cannot benefit as easily because a BCI lacks the bandwidth and
accuracy to compete with a standard input device, such as a mouse or keyboard.
Introducing a shared control scheme would enable the user to give high-level,
open-loop commands while the device takes care of low-level control.
Additional control channels or hands-free control could benefit users such as
drivers, divers, and astronauts, who must keep their hands on controls to operate
equipment. Brain-based control paradigms could supplement other forms of
hands-free control, such as a voice command or eye movement.

ii. User-state monitoring

Future interfaces must be able to understand and anticipate the user's state and
intentions. Automobiles could alert sleepy drivers, or virtual humans could
convince users to stick to their diet.
BCIs might also be useful in neuroscientific research. Because they can monitor
the acting brain in real time and in the real world, BCIs could help scientists
understand the role of functional networks during behavioral tasks.

iii. Evaluation
Evaluation applications can be either online or offline. The former continuously
provide evaluations, in real or near real time; the latter provide evaluations only
once, after the experimental study is finished. Neuroergonomics and neuro-
marketing are two application subareas.

iv. Training and education

Most training aspects relate to the brain and its plasticity - the brain's ability to
change, grow, and remap itself. Measuring plasticity can help improve training
methods and individual training regimens.

v. Gaming and entertainment

Over the past few years, companies such as Neurosky, Emotive, Uncle Milton,
Mind Games, and Mattel have released numerous products. Most developers
are convinced that BCIs will enrich the gaming and entertainment experience
 in games tailored to the user's affective state - immersion, flow, frustration,
surprise, and so on.

vi. Cognitive improvement

A common nonmedical application involving a BCI is neuro-feedback training,
in which operant conditioning alters brain activity to improve attention,
working memory, and executive functions.
The line between medical and nonmedical neuro-feedback applications is likely
to be thin, but a nonmedical application might be the optimized presentation of
learning content.

vii. Safety and security

Safety and security EEG alone or combined EEG and eye movement data from
expert observers could support the detection of deviant behavior and suspicious
objects. Also, image inspection might be faster than is possible with current
methods.
5. Advantages of BCI:
Eventually, this technology could:
 Allow paralyzed people to control prosthetic limbs with their mind.
 Transmit visual images to the mind of a blind person, allowing them to see.
 Allow gamers to control video games with their minds.
 Upload your memories.
 Have a cognitive AI assistant to aid you in decision making and task
management.
 Allow a mute person to have their thoughts displayed and spoken by a
computer.

6. Disadvantages of BCI:
 Research is still in beginning stages.
 The current technology is crude.
 Ethical issues may prevent its development.
 Electrodes outside of the skull can detect very few electric signals from the
brain.
 Electrodes placed inside the skull create scar tissue in the brain.
7. References
1. http://computer.howstuffworks.com/brain-computer-interface.htm
2. http://gigaom.com/2014/01/16/control-anything-using-your-mind-with-the-
openbci-brain-computer-interface/
3. http://www.braincomputerinterface.com/bci-ethics-moral-implications/
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain%E2%80%93computer_interface
5. https://towardsdatascience.com/a-beginners-guide-to-brain-computer-
interface-and-convolutional-neural-networks-9f35bd4af948
6. https://medium.com/svilenk/bciguide-246a9ca76fcd