Abstract

A brain-computer interface (BCI) enables users to control devices with their minds. Despite advancements, non-invasive BCIs still exhibit high error rates, prompting investigation into the potential reduction through concurrent targeted neuromodulation. Transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) is an emerging non-invasive neuromodulation technology with high spatiotemporal precision. This study examines whether tFUS neuromodulation can improve BCI outcomes, and explores the underlying mechanism of action using high-density electroencephalography (EEG) source imaging (ESI). As a result, V5-targeted tFUS significantly reduced the error in a BCI speller task. Source analyses revealed a significantly increase in theta and alpha activities in the tFUS condition at both V5 and downstream in the dorsal visual processing pathway. Correlation analysis indicated that the connection within the dorsal processing pathway was preserved during tFUS stimulation, while the ventral connection was weakened. These findings suggest that V5-targeted tFUS enhances feature-based attention to visual motion.

Transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) is a non-invasive brain modulation technology with high spatiotemporal specificity. Here, authors found tFUS can significantly enhance a brain-computer interface speller by delivering low-intensity tFUS to visual cortex during the task in naïve human subjects.

Details

Title
Transcranial focused ultrasound to V5 enhances human visual motion brain-computer interface by modulating feature-based attention
Author
Kosnoff, Joshua 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Yu, Kai 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Liu, Chang 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; He, Bin 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pittsburgh, USA (GRID:grid.147455.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 2097 0344) 
 Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pittsburgh, USA (GRID:grid.147455.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 2097 0344); Boston University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston, USA (GRID:grid.189504.1) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 7558) 
 Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pittsburgh, USA (GRID:grid.147455.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 2097 0344); Carnegie Mellon University, Neuroscience Institute, Pittsburgh, USA (GRID:grid.147455.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 2097 0344) 
Pages
4382
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3066599172
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2024. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.