Janine DeBlasi

July 2015
Sophy Yu
Summary - Talking off the top of your head: toward a mental prosthesis utilizing eventrelated brain potentials: L. A. Farwell and E. Donchin
The main idea of the article is that the elicitation of the P300 allows patients to
communicate through a Body Computer Interface. The P300 is a brainwave that is a part of the
event-related brain potential and transmission of thoughts through it is intended for subjects
who have limited to no capability to communicate by other means (ALS patients, for example).
In order to test the effectiveness of this method, subjects were shown a matrix on a display that
consisted of the alphabet and various symbols. While the rows and columns continuously
flashed, the person was to focus on a character (for about 30 seconds) until the P300 was elicited;
this would also be when the row or column with the character flashed. Once that occurred, the
computer interface would process it and allow for analyzation. It should also be noted that there
were two experimental sessions. Session 1 involved a voice synthesizer and session 2 required
the people to attend to letters of the word.
There were also various methods specific to Dr. Donchins work utilized in analyzing the
data, specifically algorisms that would calculate the subjects scores. The algorisms included
stepwise discriminant analysis for classification purposes, peak picking to find the amplitude,
area to find the total amount of data points in the window of the P300, and the covariance of the
subtrials. The researchers learned that the subjects were able to accurately convey messages with
the P300 and BCI, but at a relatively slow pace, averaging about 2 characters per minute. They

also found that the P300 could act as a binary switch,1 meaning that the subject could switch
choices. Overall, they yielded positive findings in regards to the P300 and BCI allowing subjects
(potentially ALS) to communicate effectively.i

1 Farwell, L. A., & Donchin, E. (1988). Talking off the top of your head: A mental prosthesis utilizing
event-related brain potentials. Electroencephalography and clinical Neurophysiology, 70, 510-523.

i Please note that this paper in its entirety is in reference to the following:Farwell, L. A., & Donchin, E. (1988). Talking off
the top of your head: A mental prosthesis utilizing event-related brain potentials. Electroencephalography and clinical
Neurophysiology, 70, 510-523.