Current Practices in Electroencephalogram- Based Brain-Computer Interfaces

Electroencephalogram (EEG) is the electrical activity of the brain recorded by electrodes placed on the scalp. EEG signals are generally investigated for the diagnosis of mental conditions such as epilepsy, memory impairments, and sleep disorders. In recent years there has been another application using EEG: for brain-computer interface (BCI) designs (Vaughan & Wolpaw, 2006). EEG-based BCI designs are very useful for hands-off device control and communication as they use the electrical activity of the brain to interface with the external environment, therefore circumventing the use of peripheral muscles and limbs. Some current applications of BCIs in communication systems are for paralyzed individuals to communicate with their surroundings through character/menu selection and in device control such as wheelchair movement, prosthetics control, and flight and rehabilitative (assistive) technologies. For the general public, some of the possible applications are hands-off menu selection, flight/space control, and virtual reality (entertainment). BCI has also been applied in biometrics (Palaniappan & Mandic, 2007).