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Brain–Computer Interfaces - Index of

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Brain–Computer <strong>Interfaces</strong> for Communication<br />

and Control in Locked-in Patients<br />

Femke Nijboer and Ursula Broermann<br />

1 Introduction<br />

If you really want to help somebody, first you must find out<br />

where he is. This is the secret <strong>of</strong> caring. If you cannot do that, it<br />

is only an illusion if you think you can help another human<br />

being. Helping somebody implies you understanding more than<br />

he does, but first <strong>of</strong> all you must understand what he<br />

understands. 1<br />

Most Brain–Computer Interface (BCI) research aims at helping people who are<br />

severely paralyzed to regain control over their environment and to communicate<br />

with their social environment. There has been a tremendous increase in BCI research<br />

the last years, which might lead to the belief that we are close to a commercially<br />

available BCI applications to patients. However, studies with users from the future<br />

target group (those who are indeed paralyzed) are still outnumbered by studies on<br />

technical aspects <strong>of</strong> BCI applications and studies with healthy young participants.<br />

This might explain why the number <strong>of</strong> patients who use a BCI in daily life, without<br />

experts from a BCI group being present, can be counted on one hand.<br />

In this chapter we will focus on the feasibility and flaws <strong>of</strong> BCIs for lockedin<br />

and complete locked-in patients (the difference between these conditions will be<br />

explained in paragraph 2). Thus, we will speak a lot about problems BCI researchers<br />

face when testing a BCI or implementing a BCI at the home <strong>of</strong> patients. With this,<br />

we hope to stimulate further studies with paralyzed patients. We believe that patients<br />

F. Nijboer (B)<br />

Institute <strong>of</strong> Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, Eberhard Karls University<br />

<strong>of</strong> Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Human-Media Interaction, University <strong>of</strong> Twente, Enschede,<br />

The Netherlands<br />

e-mail: femke.nijboer@utwente.nl<br />

1Sören Kierkegaard: The point <strong>of</strong> view from my work as an author, 39.<br />

B. Graimann et al. (eds.), Brain–Computer <strong>Interfaces</strong>, The Frontiers Collection,<br />

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-02091-9_11, C○ Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010<br />

185

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