Schrag Emily, Comaduran Marquez Daniel, Kirton Adam, Kinney-Lang Eli
Department of Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Department of Neuroscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 18;15(1):26168. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-09540-8.
Steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP)-based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are widely used due to their reliability and possible training-free setup. Common SSVEP stimuli are high contrast and solidly colored, potentially causing discomfort and visual fatigue, particularly when high stimulation frequencies are employed. To address this, textured stimuli, which may evoke visual responses in higher processing systems, have been proposed as an alternative to conventional flashing stimuli. We evaluate the effectiveness of textured stimuli for SSVEP-based BCIs by examining both user comfort and neural responses across different EEG channel subsets. Neurotypical participants aged 5-18 (n = 35, 57% female) were exposed to traditional and textured stimuli at three frequencies (9, 14, and 33 Hz) and asked to report perceived comfort. While textured stimuli were consistently rated as more comfortable, especially at lower frequencies, signal-to-noise ratio analysis indicated that they did not enhance neural responses compared to conventional stimuli. Classification accuracy was driven primarily by stimulation frequency rather than stimulus type and there was a sharp decline in accuracy at 33 Hz. These findings suggest that while textured stimuli improve user comfort, their utility in enhancing BCI performance remains unclear, warranting further investigation into stimulus design for SSVEP-based BCIs.
基于稳态视觉诱发电位（SSVEP）的脑机接口（BCI）因其可靠性和无需训练的设置可能性而被广泛应用。常见的SSVEP刺激具有高对比度和纯色，可能会导致不适和视觉疲劳，尤其是在采用高刺激频率时。为了解决这个问题，有人提出了纹理刺激，它可能会在更高的处理系统中引发视觉反应，以此作为传统闪烁刺激的替代方案。我们通过检查不同脑电图通道子集的用户舒适度和神经反应，评估纹理刺激对基于SSVEP的BCI的有效性。年龄在5至18岁的神经典型参与者（n = 35，57%为女性）在三种频率（9、14和33赫兹）下接受传统刺激和纹理刺激，并被要求报告感知到的舒适度。虽然纹理刺激一直被评为更舒适，尤其是在较低频率下，但信噪比分析表明，与传统刺激相比，它们并没有增强神经反应。分类准确率主要由刺激频率而非刺激类型驱动，并且在33赫兹时准确率急剧下降。这些发现表明，虽然纹理刺激提高了用户舒适度，但其在增强BCI性能方面的效用仍不明确，这需要对基于SSVEP的BCI的刺激设计进行进一步研究。
