Effect of motion state variability on error-related potentials during continuous feedback paradigms and their consequences for classification

An erroneous motion would elicit the error-related potential (ErrP) when humans monitor the behavior of the external devices. This EEG modality has been largely applied to brain-computer interface in an active or passive manner with discrete visual feedback. However, the effect of variable motion state on ErrP morphology and classification performance raises concerns when the interaction is conducted with continuous visual feedback. In the present study, we designed a cursor control experiment. Participants monitored a continuously moving cursor to reach the target on one side of the screen. Motion state varied multiple times with two factors: (1) motion direction and (2) motion speed. The effects of these two factors on the morphological characteristics and classification performance of ErrP were analyzed. Furthermore, an offline simulation was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed extended ErrP-decoder in resolving the interference by motion direction changes. The statistical analyses revealed that motion direction and motion speed significantly influenced the amplitude of feedback-ERN and frontal-Pe components, while only motion direction significantly affected the classification performance. Significant deviation was found in ErrP detection utilizing classical correct-versus-erroneous event training. However, this bias can be alleviated by 16% by the extended ErrP-decoder. The morphology and classification performance of ErrP signal can be affected by motion state variability during continuous feedback paradigms. The results enhance the comprehension of ErrP morphological components and shed light on the detection of BCI’s error behavior in practical continuous control.