AUTHOR=Wu Yan , Zhou Weiwei , Lu Zhaohua , Li Qi 

TITLE=A Spelling Paradigm With an Added Red Dot Improved the P300 Speller System Performance

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroinformatics

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroinformatics/articles/10.3389/fninf.2020.589169

DOI=10.3389/fninf.2020.589169

ISSN=1662-5196

ABSTRACT=The traditional P300 speller system uses the flashing row or column spelling paradigm. However, the classification accuracy and information transfer rate of the P300 speller are not adequate for real-world application. To improve the performance of the P300 speller, we devised a new spelling paradigm in which the flashing row or column of a virtual character matrix is covered by a translucent green circle with a red dot in either the upper or lower half (GC-RD spelling paradigm). We compared the event-related potential（ERP）waveforms with a control paradigm (GC spelling paradigm), in which the flashing row or column of a virtual character matrix was covered by a translucent green circle only. Our experimental results showed that the amplitude of P3a at the parietal area and P3b at the frontal-central-parietal areas evoked by the GC-RD paradigm, were significantly greater than those induced by the GC paradigm. Higher classification accuracy and information transmission rates were also obtained in the GC-RD system. Our results indicated the added red dots increased attention and visuospatial information, resulting in an amplitude increase of both P3a and P3b; thereby improving the performance of the P300-speller system.