부산대학교 도서관

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) measure brain activity and can be used by impaired patients to close the gap to the real world. In BCI applications based on steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs), the user focuses on stimuli with different frequencies. During the last decades, the effect of background music on the cognitive performance has been discussed controversially in several studies. This study investigated the influence of background music on the performance of an SSVEP-based BCI speller based on objective (ITR, accuracy, and vital parameters) and subjective measures (familiarity, excitement, mood, valence, and support). The experiments were performed with 18 healthy participants (age 25.17± 4.4 years, eleven females) and comprised a control condition without music, one with white noise, and four conditions with “exciting” and “relaxing” pre-selected and self-chosen music. While the ITR decreased for the noise and music conditions compared to the one without music, an accuracy increase was shown in the white noise and “exciting” self-chosen music condition. The physiological parameters and subjective opinions did not necessarily match the achieved performances. Excitement, mood, and other factors including familiarity of the music and the underlying musical structure were identified as having an influence on the performance values. In sum, this study shows and discusses both positive and negative effects of background music on the BCI performance and prepares further investigations concerning the possible application of BCI systems in noisy environments.