Detecting Consciousness with a Brain-computer Interface

Recent electrophysiological and neuroimaging studies showed command-specific changes in EEG or fMRI signals of unresponsive patients providing motor-independent evidence of conscious thoughts. These promising results have paved the way for a new application for Brain-computer Interface (BCI): detecting consciousness in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC). In the present abstract, we review the first results obtained by BCI-like applications in patients with DOC and discuss the challenges facing BCI research. We believe that patients with DOC may benefit from BCI based diagnosis. BCIs may detect changes in the signal in response to command and, in some cases, may permit communication.