Decoding covert somatosensory attention by a BCI system calibrated with tactile sensation

Objective: We propose a novel calibration strategy to facilitate the decoding of covert somatosensory attention by exploring the oscillatory dynamics induced by tactile sensation. Methods: It was hypothesized that the similarity of the oscillatory pattern between stimulation sensation (SS, real sensation) and somatosensory attentional orientation (SAO) provides a way to decode covert somatic attention. Subjects were instructed to sense the tactile stimulation, which was applied to the left (SS-L) or the right (SS-R) wrist. The brain-computer interface (BCI) system was calibrated with the sensation data and then applied for online SAO decoding. Results: Both SS and SAO showed oscillatory activation concentrated on the contralateral somatosensory hemisphere. Offline analysis showed that the proposed calibration method led to a greater accuracy than the traditional calibration method based on SAO only. This is confirmed by online experiments, where the online accuracy on 15 subjects was 78.8 ± 13.1%, with 12 subjects >70% and 4 subject >90%. Conclusion: By integrating the stimulus-induced oscillatory dynamics from sensory cortex, covert somatosensory attention can be reliably decoded by a BCI system calibrated with tactile sensation. Significance: Indeed, real tactile sensation is more consistent during calibration than SAO. This brain-computer interfacing approach may find application for stroke and completely locked-in patients with preserved somatic sensation.