scholarly journals What if I had a third arm? An EEG study of a supernumerary BCI system

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime A. Riascos ◽  
David Steeven Villa ◽  
Anderson Maciel ◽  
Luciana Nedel ◽  
Dante Barone
Keyword(s):  
Motor Imagery ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Task Load ◽  
The Third ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
Human Ability ◽  
Robotic Prosthesis ◽  
And Control ◽  
Bci System ◽  
Psychological Experiments

AbstractMotor imagery Brain-Computer Interface (MI-BCI) enables bodyless communication by means of the imagination of body movements. Since its apparition, MI-BCI has been widely used in applications such as guiding a robotic prosthesis, or the navigation in games and virtual reality (VR) environments. Although psychological experiments, such as the Rubber Hand Illusion - RHI, suggest the human ability for creating body transfer illusions, MI-BCI only uses the imagination of real body parts as neurofeedback training and control commands. The present work studies and explores the inclusion of an imaginary third arm as a part of the control commands for MI-BCI systems. It also compares the effectiveness of using the conventional arrows and fixation cross as training step (Graz condition) against realistic human hands performing the corresponding tasks from a first-person perspective (Hands condition); both conditions wearing a VR headset. Ten healthy subjects participated in a two-session EEG experiment involving open-close hand tasks, including a third arm that comes out from the chest. The EEG analysis shows a strong power decrease in the sensory-motor areas for the third arm task in both training conditions. Such activity is significantly stronger for Hands than Graz condition, suggesting that the realistic scenario can reduce the abstractness of the third arm and improve the generation of motor imagery signals. The cognitive load is also assessed both by NASA-TLX and Task Load index.

scholarly journals Development of a Novel Motor Imagery Control Technique and Application in a Gaming Environment

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting Li ◽  
Jinhua Zhang ◽  
Tao Xue ◽  
Baozeng Wang
Keyword(s):  
Motor Imagery ◽  
Control Technique ◽  
System Operation ◽  
Common Spatial Pattern ◽  
Spatial Features ◽  
3D Game ◽  
Gaming Environment ◽  
Game Environment ◽  
And Control ◽  
Bci System

We present a methodology for a hybrid brain-computer interface (BCI) system, with the recognition of motor imagery (MI) based on EEG and blink EOG signals. We tested the BCI system in a 3D Tetris and an analogous 2D game playing environment. To enhance player’s BCI control ability, the study focused on feature extraction from EEG and control strategy supporting Game-BCI system operation. We compared the numerical differences between spatial features extracted with common spatial pattern (CSP) and the proposed multifeature extraction. To demonstrate the effectiveness of 3D game environment at enhancing player’s event-related desynchronization (ERD) and event-related synchronization (ERS) production ability, we set the 2D Screen Game as the comparison experiment. According to a series of statistical results, the group performing MI in the 3D Tetris environment showed more significant improvements in generating MI-associated ERD/ERS. Analysis results of game-score indicated that the players’ scores presented an obvious uptrend in 3D Tetris environment but did not show an obvious downward trend in 2D Screen Game. It suggested that the immersive and rich-control environment for MI would improve the associated mental imagery and enhance MI-based BCI skills.

scholarly journals Neural Kinesthetic Contribution to Motor Imagery of Body Parts: Tongue, Hands, and Feet

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irini Giannopulu ◽  
Haruo Mizutani
Keyword(s):  
Motor Imagery ◽  
Network Connectivity ◽  
Imagery Task ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
Tongue Movements ◽  
Action Process ◽  
Equivalent Motor ◽  
Hands And Feet

Motor imagery (MI) is assimilated to a perception-action process, which is mentally represented. Although several models suggest that MI, and its equivalent motor execution, engage very similar brain areas, the mechanisms underlying MI and their associated components are still under investigation today. Using 22 Ag/AgCl EEG electrodes, 19 healthy participants (nine males and 10 females) with an average age of 25.8 years old (sd = 3.5 years) were required to imagine moving several parts of their body (i.e., first-person perspective) one by one: left and right hand, tongue, and feet. Network connectivity analysis based on graph theory, together with a correlational analysis, were performed on the data. The findings suggest evidence for motor and somesthetic neural synchronization and underline the role of the parietofrontal network for the tongue imagery task only. At both unilateral and bilateral cortical levels, only the tongue imagery task appears to be associated with motor and somatosensory representations, that is, kinesthetic representations, which might contribute to verbal actions. As such, the present findings suggest the idea that imagined tongue movements, involving segmentary kinesthetic actions, could be the prerequisite of language.

THE EFFECT OF APPLYING DEMONSTRATION METHOD ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN SPEAKING SKILL AT THE THIRD GRADE OF SMK PAB 3 MEDAN ESTATE

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Meryanti Napitupulu And Anni Holila Pulungan
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Vocational High School ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Speaking Test ◽  
The Third ◽  
Speaking Skill ◽  
The Subject ◽  
And Control ◽  
Experimental Group

This study was conducted as an attempt to discover the effect of applying Demonstration Method on students’ achievement in speaking skill. It was an experimental research. The subject was students of Grade XII, Vocational High School (Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan: SMK), which consisted of 79 students. The research was divided into two groups: experimental and control groups. The instrument used to collect the data was speaking test. To obtain the reliability of the test, the writer applied Kuder Richardson 21 formula. The result of the reliability was 0.7, and it was found that the test was reliable. The data were analyzed by using t-test formula. The analysis showed that the scores of the students in the experimental group were significantly higher than the scores of the students in the control group at the level of significant m = 0.05 with the degree of freedom (df) 77, t-observed value 8.9 > t-table value 1.99. The findings indicate that using Demonstration Method significantly affected the students’ achievement in speaking skill. So, English teachers are suggested to use Demonstration Method in order to improve students’ achievement in speaking skill.

Causal determinism and a totally global fatalism from the third-person perspective

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyang Yu
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Causal Determinism ◽  
The Third ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
Neural Substrate ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Third Person Perspective ◽  
Physical Laws ◽  
The Third Person

The human brain and the human language are precisely constructed together by evolution/genes, so that in the objective world, a human brain can tell a story to another brain in human language which describes an imagined multiplayer game; in this story, one player of the game represents the human brain itself. It’s possible that the human kind doesn’t really have a subjective world (doesn’t really have conscious experience). An individual has no control even over her choices. Her choices are controlled by the neural substrate. The neural substrate is controlled by the physical laws. So, her choices are controlled by the physical laws. So, she is powerless to do anything other than what she actually does. This is the view of fatalism. Specifically, this is the view of a totally global fatalism, where people have no control even over their choices, from the third-person perspective. And I just argued for fatalism by appeal to causal determinism. Psychologically, a third-person perspective and a new, dedicated personality state are required to bear the totally global fatalism, to avoid severe cognitive dissonance with our default first-person perspective and our original personality state.

MODEL OF SOCIAL POTENTIAL OF CHILDHOOD IN THE RUSSIAN REGIONS: THE RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS

2019 ◽  
pp. 152-162
Author(s):  
A.G. Filipova ◽  
A.V. Vysotskaya
Keyword(s):  
Third Wave ◽  
Russian Regions ◽  
The Third ◽  
Control Factors ◽  
Social Potential ◽  
System Input ◽  
Optimal Values ◽  
Fixed Ideal ◽  
And Control ◽  
Selection Of

The article presents the results of mathematical experiments with the system «Social potential of childhood in the Russian regions». In the structure of system divided into three subsystems – the «Reproduction of children in the region», «Children’s health» and «Education of children», for each defined its target factor (output parameter). The groups of infrastructure factors (education, health, culture and sport, transport), socio-economic, territorial-settlement, demographic and en-vironmental factors are designated as the factors that control the system (input parameters). The aim of the study is to build a model îf «Social potential of childhood in the Russian regions», as well as to conduct experiments to find the optimal ratio of the values of target and control factors. Three waves of experiments were conducted. The first wave is related to the analysis of the dynam-ics of indicators for 6 years. The second – with the selection of optimal values of control factors at fixed ideal values of target factors. The third wave allowed us to calculate the values of the target factors based on the selected optimal values of the control factors of the previous wave.

scholarly journals Mating Disruption of Pseudococcus calceolariae (Maskell) (Hemiptera, Pseudococcidae) in Fruit Crops

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 343
Author(s):  
Carolina Ballesteros ◽  
Alda Romero ◽  
María Colomba Castro ◽  
Sofía Miranda ◽  
Jan Bergmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Inspection ◽  
Mating Disruption ◽  
Economic Importance ◽  
Fruit Crops ◽  
Potential Control ◽  
The Third ◽  
Pseudococcus Calceolariae ◽  
And Control ◽  
Potential Use ◽  
Control Tool

Pseudococcus calceolariae, the citrophilous mealybug, is a species of economic importance. Mating disruption (MD) is a potential control tool. During 2017–2020, trials were conducted to evaluate the potential of P. calceolariae MD in an apple and a tangerine orchard. Two pheromone doses, 6.32 g/ha (2017–2018) and 9.45 g/ha (2019–2020), were tested. The intermediate season (2018–2019) was evaluated without pheromone renewal to study the persistence of the pheromone effect. Male captures in pheromone traps, mealybug population/plant, percentage of infested fruit at harvest and mating disruption index (MDI) were recorded regularly. In both orchards, in the first season, male captures were significantly lower in MD plots compared to control plots, with an MDI > 94% in the first month after pheromone deployment. During the second season, significantly lower male captures in MD plots were still observed, with an average MDI of 80%. At the third season, male captures were again significant lower in MD than control plots shortly after pheromone applications. In both orchards, population by visual inspection and infested fruits were very low, without differences between MD and control plots. These results show the potential use of mating disruption for the control of P. calceolariae.

Disrupted Salience and Cingulo-Opercular Network Connectivity During Impaired Rapid Instructed Task Learning in Schizophrenia

2021 ◽  
pp. 216770262095934
Author(s):  
Julia M. Sheffield ◽  
Holger Mohr ◽  
Hannes Ruge ◽  
Deanna M. Barch
Keyword(s):  
A Priori ◽  
Network Connectivity ◽  
Task Learning ◽  
Human Ability ◽  
Functional Brain Networks ◽  
Task Goals ◽  
Multivariate Pattern ◽  
And Control ◽  
Goal Directed Behavior

Rapid instructed task learning (RITL) is the uniquely human ability to transform task information into goal-directed behavior without relying on trial-and-error learning. RITL is a core cognitive process supported by functional brain networks. In patients with schizophrenia, RITL ability is impaired, but the role of functional network connectivity in these RITL deficits is unknown. We investigated task-based connectivity of eight a priori network pairs in participants with schizophrenia ( n = 29) and control participants ( n = 31) during the performance of an RITL task. Multivariate pattern analysis was used to determine which network connectivity patterns predicted diagnostic group. Of all network pairs, only the connectivity between the cingulo-opercular network (CON) and salience network (SAN) during learning classified patients and control participants with significant accuracy (80%). CON-SAN connectivity during learning was significantly associated with task performance in participants with schizophrenia. These findings suggest that impaired interactions between identification of salient stimuli and maintenance of task goals contributes to RITL deficits in participants with schizophrenia.

scholarly journals Insights into the combination of neuromuscular electrical stimulation and motor imagery in a training-based approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amandine Bouguetoch ◽  
Alain Martin ◽  
Sidney Grosprêtre
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Motor Imagery ◽  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Voluntary Contraction ◽  
Muscle Architecture ◽  
Fascicle Length ◽  
Before And After ◽  
V Wave ◽  
And Control

Abstract Introduction Training stimuli that partially activate the neuromuscular system, such as motor imagery (MI) or neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), have been previously shown as efficient tools to induce strength gains. Here the efficacy of MI, NMES or NMES + MI trainings has been compared. Methods Thirty-seven participants were enrolled in a training program of ten sessions in 2 weeks targeting plantar flexor muscles, distributed in four groups: MI, NMES, NMES + MI and control. Each group underwent forty contractions in each session, NMES + MI group doing 20 contractions of each modality. Before and after, the neuromuscular function was tested through the recording of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), but also electrophysiological and mechanical responses associated with electrical nerve stimulation. Muscle architecture was assessed by ultrasonography. Results MVC increased by 11.3 ± 3.5% in NMES group, by 13.8 ± 5.6% in MI, while unchanged for NMES + MI and control. During MVC, a significant increase in V-wave without associated changes in superimposed H-reflex has been observed for NMES and MI, suggesting that neural adaptations occurred at supraspinal level. Rest spinal excitability was increased in the MI group while decreased in the NMES group. No change in muscle architecture (pennation angle, fascicle length) has been found in any group but muscular peak twitch and soleus maximal M-wave increased in the NMES group only. Conclusion Finally, MI and NMES seem to be efficient stimuli to improve strength, although both exhibited different and specific neural plasticity. On its side, NMES + MI combination did not provide the expected gains, suggesting that their effects are not simply cumulative, or even are competitive.

scholarly journals Induction of Neural Plasticity Using a Low-Cost Open Source Brain-Computer Interface and a 3D-Printed Wrist Exoskeleton

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 572
Author(s):  
Mads Jochumsen ◽  
Taha Al Muhammadee Janjua ◽  
Juan Carlos Arceo ◽  
Jimmy Lauber ◽  
Emilie Simoneau Buessinger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Motor Evoked Potentials ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
True Positive Rate ◽  
Positive Rate ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
Major Factors ◽  
And Control ◽  
Bci System

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have been proven to be useful for stroke rehabilitation, but there are a number of factors that impede the use of this technology in rehabilitation clinics and in home-use, the major factors including the usability and costs of the BCI system. The aims of this study were to develop a cheap 3D-printed wrist exoskeleton that can be controlled by a cheap open source BCI (OpenViBE), and to determine if training with such a setup could induce neural plasticity. Eleven healthy volunteers imagined wrist extensions, which were detected from single-trial electroencephalography (EEG), and in response to this, the wrist exoskeleton replicated the intended movement. Motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited using transcranial magnetic stimulation were measured before, immediately after, and 30 min after BCI training with the exoskeleton. The BCI system had a true positive rate of 86 ± 12% with 1.20 ± 0.57 false detections per minute. Compared to the measurement before the BCI training, the MEPs increased by 35 ± 60% immediately after and 67 ± 60% 30 min after the BCI training. There was no association between the BCI performance and the induction of plasticity. In conclusion, it is possible to detect imaginary movements using an open-source BCI setup and control a cheap 3D-printed exoskeleton that when combined with the BCI can induce neural plasticity. These findings may promote the availability of BCI technology for rehabilitation clinics and home-use. However, the usability must be improved, and further tests are needed with stroke patients.

scholarly journals Futures of sustainability: Perspectives on social imaginaries and social transformation. A comment on Frank Adloff and Sighard Neckel’s research program

2021 ◽  
pp. 053901842199956
Author(s):  
Gerard Delanty
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Research Program ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Social Imaginaries ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Future ◽  
And Control

This essay is a comment on the research program launched by Frank Adloff and Sighard Neckel. My comment is specifically focused on their research agenda as outlined in their trend-setting article, ‘Futures of sustainability as modernization, transformation, and control: A conceptual framework’. The comment is also addressed more generally to the research program of the Humanities Centre for Advanced Studies ‘Futures of Sustainability’. I raise three issues: the first relates to the very idea of the future; the second concerns the notion of social imaginaries and the third question is focused on the idea of social transformation.

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