Post-stroke aphasia rehabilitation using an adapted visual P300 brain-computer interface training: improvement over time, but specificity remains undetermined

Introduction This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of visual P300 brain-computer interface use to support rehabilitation of chronic language production deficits commonly experienced by individuals with a left-sided stroke resulting in post-stroke aphasia. Methods The study involved twelve participants, but five dropped out. Additionally, data points were missing for three participants in the remaining sample of seven participants. The participants underwent four assessments—a baseline, pre-assessment, post-assessment, and follow-up assessment. Between the pre-and post-assessment, the participants underwent at least 14 sessions of visual spelling using a brain-computer interface. The study aimed to investigate the impact of this intervention on attention, language production, and language comprehension and to determine whether there were any potential effects on quality of life and well-being. Results None of the participants showed a consistent improvement in attention. All participants showed an improvement in spontaneous speech production, and three participants experienced a reduction in aphasia severity. We found an improvement in subjective quality of life and daily functioning. However, we cannot rule out the possibility of unspecific effects causing or at least contributing to these results. Conclusion Due to challenges in assessing the patient population, resulting in a small sample size and missing data points, the results of using visual P300 brain-computer interfaces for chronic post-stroke aphasia rehabilitation are preliminary. Thus, we cannot decisively judge the potential of this approach.