Decoding attentional orientation from eeg spectra

Abstract

We have carried out preliminary experiments to determine if EEG spectra can be used to decode the attentional orientation of an observer in three-dimensional space. Our task cued the subject to direct attention to speech in one location and ignore simultaneous speech originating from another location. We found that during the period where the subject directs attention to one location in anticipation of the speech signal, EEG spectral features can be used to predict the orientation of attention. We propose to refine this method by training subjects using feedback to improve classification performance. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.