New grant for Mariska Vansteensel, funded by UMC Utrecht Internationalization Committee.

In the Utrecht Neural Prosthesis study, people with LIS are being surgically implanted with a BCI, aiming to provide participants with a new and brain-based method of communication for home use. In two participants with LIS implanted thus far, we observed important differences in the neural signals that were related to their ability to reliably control the BCI. For eventual wide clinical application of BCIs based on implanted brain-surface electrodes, it will be important to predict whether or not a certain individual has a high chance of achieving accurate control over the BCI before deciding to perform surgery.

Measurements from the EEG could provide a rapid and easy approach to determine the quality of the neural signal changes prior to BCI implantation. In the PREP project (PREdicting Performance of sensorimotor brain-computer interface control), we will collaborate with Prof Marc van Hulle of the Catholic University of Leuven to investigate whether or not scalp EEG recordings can be used to predict performance of BCI implants.