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OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT05311878

Non-invasive BCI for Cognitive Enhancement

People's perceptual skills can significantly affect their abilities to make optimal decisions, judgments, and actions in real-world dynamic environments. Perceptual learning refers to training and experiences to induce improvements in the ability to make sense of what people see, hear, feel, taste or smell based on ambiguous sensory information. In this study, investigators hypothesise that there exist neural signatures that robustly encode the conscious visual perception of rotations of a cursor and the magnitudes of these rotations in a novel, rotation-based perceptual learning task. Investigators also hypothesise that online, instantaneous EEG-based feedback on subjects' visual perceptions of rotations with an EEG-based Brain Computer Interface (BCI) can foster perceptual learning much more effectively than behaviour perceptual training, especially in very small rotation magnitudes that represent extremely difficult perceptual tasks.

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Key information

Conditions

Healthy Subjects Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Age range

18 year–80 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Engineering Education and Research Center

Austin, Texas, 78712, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Able-bodied volunteers:

  • good general health
  • normal or corrected vision
  • no history of neurological/psychiatric disease
  • ability to read and understand English
  • ability to understand information and ability to give a free and informed consent

Subjects with neuropsychiatric diseases

  • Subjects with neuropsychiatric diseases such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
  • normal or corrected vision
  • ability to read and understand English
  • ability to understand information and ability to give a free and informed consent

Exclusion criteria

  • short attentional spans or cognitive deficits that prevent to remain concentrated during the experimental sessions
  • concomitant serious illnesses (e.g., metabolic disorders, cardiac arrest)
  • factors hindering proper EEG acquisition (e.g., scalp wound, uncontrolled muscle activity)

Treatment and study plan

EEG-based perceptual training

Device

Electroencephalography (EEG) signals will be recorded from subjects as they perform rotation-based perceptual tasks. The neural correlates of conscious perception of rotations will be processed and decoded in real-time using machine learning algorithms to provide feedback. Subjects are instructed to assume a mental state/find a strategy to maximise the accuracy of feedback. In total, each subject will complete 5 sessions of perceptual training with this intervention.

Behavior based perceptual training

Device

Subjects complete the rotation-based perceptual tasks, and ground truth visual feedback is provided indicating whether subjects have spotted the rotations correctly. Subjects are instructed to spot as many rotation as possible to maximise the accuracy of feedback. In total, each subject will complete 5 sessions of perceptual training with this intervention.

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in correct answer rate of different rotation magnitudes across 5 intervention sessions

    Time frame: Difference is measured every 24 hours, before versus after each intervention session

    The correct answer rate per rotation magnitude reflects the improvements in perceptual skills across the two conditions. It measures the percentage of each rotation magnitude spotted correctly. The score is 0-100, and the higher the value, the better the outcome.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in neural correlates of conscious perception across 5 intervention sessions

    Time frame: Difference is measured every 24 hours, before versus after each intervention session

    This outcome measures whether neural correlates of conscious perception (e.g. amplitude, peak-to-peak, band power and connectivity measures of neural correlates) change across sessions as a result of intervention.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Texas at Austin

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Non-invasive Brain Computer Interface for Cognitive Enhancement

Important dates

Study start
2021
Primary completion
2023
Study completion
2023
First posted
Apr 5, 2022
Registry last updated
Apr 24, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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