Temperament Predictors of Motor Imagery Control in BCI

Abstract

Abstract. The aim of this study was to verify if selected temperament traits may be useful as predictors of motor imagery brain-computer interface (BCI) performance. In our experiment, 40 BCI-naive subjects were instructed to imagine the movement of clenching his/her right or left hand, in accordance with the visual cue. The activity of sensorimotor rhythms (SMR) (8–30 Hz) was measured by electroencephalography (EEG) and transformed into the information transfer rate (ITR) after feature selection and classification. All subjects also completed a self-assessment questionnaire for the determination of their temperament profile, comprising the following traits: Briskness, Perseveration, Sensory Sensitivity, Emotional Reactivity, Endurance, and Activity. We found significant correlations between ITR performance and Endurance (EN) and Perseveration (PE) scores. This effect was also visible in a topography of SMR desynchronization patterns, in groups with different results in EN and PE scales. Finally, a predictive model of motor imagery BCI control based on temperament traits was proposed. We interpret this finding as empirical support for an influence of basic, relatively stable personality traits on BCI control via the performance of the motor imagery task. Moreover, the implication of these results on the design of future brain-computer interfaces was discussed.