Initial experience with a sensorimotor rhythm-based brain-computer interface in a Parkinson's disease patient

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) show potential as neuroprosthetic and neurorehabilitative interventions for patients with motor impairments. However, recent evidence suggests that BCIs depend on cortico-striatal circuit function, implying that patients with impaired cortico-striatal circuits may have difficulty using BCIs. In this pilot study, we applied a sensorimotor rhythm (SMR)-based BCI to a patient with Parkinson's disease. The patient was required to change the path of a falling cursor to either the right or the left by generating laterality in SMRs. The patient performed the BCI in separate sessions, namely while off and on antiparkinsonian medication. The online BCI success rate was higher in the on-medication condition (65.0%) than in the off-medication condition (58.3%). Particularly, for Right trials, event-related desynchronization of SMR was also more evident in the on-medication condition than in the off-medication condition. This preliminary result suggests a possible way via which patients with dopamine deficiency could control SMR-based BCIs.