Third International Brain-Computer Interface Meeting

Georgia State University Research Foundation, Inc., Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

Facilitated and encouraged by new understanding of brain function, by the advent of powerful low-cost computers, and by appreciation of the needs and potentials of people with disabilities, the pace and volume of brain-computer interface (BCI) research have grown rapidly in recent years. But effective BCI research requires highly interdisciplinary interactions involving neuroscientists, clinical neurologists, psychologists, systems and rehabilitation engineers, applied mathematicians, computer scientists, and clinical rehabilitation specialists. Because no standard venue existed to bring these groups together to share results, to exchange ideas, and to develop the requisite close and productive collaborations the NIH sponsored, and the Wadsworth Center in Albany NY organized, the first two International BCI Meetings in 1999 and 2002. The impact of these meetings, which brought together researchers from all over the world and included all relevant disciplines, is indicated by the striking fact that more than half of all the BCI research articles ever published have appeared in the last two years and that three quarters of these articles include among their authors at least one person who participated in one or both of these two meetings. The Third International BCI Meeting, to be held June 14-19, 2005, in Rensselaerville NY with core funding provided by NIH, will continue and augment the impact of the first two BCI Meetings by providing an intensive four and a half day program that once again fosters interdisciplinary interactions among researchers in this field while focusing on issues critical to the current state of BCI research. Specific topics of interest this year include: advantages and disadvantages for BCI use of different brain signals and signal acquisition methods; selection of appropriate signal processing methods for extracting features from the brain signals, and translating these features into device commands; problems that must be solved for clinical use of BCIs and for the realization of applications of most value to users; and the continued development of powerful, flexible, and convenient software/hardware systems to support both laboratory research and clinical applications. As in the first two BCI Meetings, a central objective of this year's event is to promote the education and development of young researchers through participation of numerous graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The organizers expect about 150 participants, of whom approximately 75 will be students. The PI is especially eager to encourage participation by women and minority researchers, as well as researchers with disabilities. NSF support will be used to fund participation by about 30 of these students, and will play a key role in nurturing these young researchers at a critical stage in their professional development. Broader Impacts: BCIs translate signals recorded from the brain into useful outputs such as control of the movement of a computer cursor, selection of letters or icons on a computer screen, or even operation of a neuroprosthesis. BCI technology thus is a potentially powerful new communication and control option for people with severe motor disabilities or disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), brainstem stroke, cerebral palsy, and spinal cord injury, who may have little or even no muscle control and therefore no means of communication with the external world. BCIs can provide communication and control technology that does not depend on neuromuscular output, and would therefore be of tremendous practical value to these people.