Andrés Aparicio

Wheels Within Wheels: Brain-Computer Interfaces as Tools for Artistic Practice as Research

Practice as research (PaR) is concerned with practice both as a method for inquiry and as evidence of the research process, producing embodied knowledge. It has been proposed that it is the foundational strategy in performative research, a kind of research apart from quantitative and qualitative research, characterized by being expressed using forms of symbolic data different from quantities or words in discursive texts. In this context, practice requires constant reflection upon itself to yield insights that can be used in a never-ending loop of creation. As practice is performed by the body and produces embodied knowledge, tools that allow querying the body during the artistic process may provide information that supports this creation/reflection loop. Previous artistic BCI applications have shown that they are suited to work as introspection tools (affective states, correlation between performed actions and area activations), as the source of raw material to be used in the creative process (raw signal, patterns of activation, band power), and as controllers for artistic instruments. We believe that previous research has laid the groundwork for the use of BCIs as tools in PaR. In this paper, we propose a framework for this and review three examples of previous artistic work using BCIs that illustrate different aspects of said framework.

Immobilis in mobili: performing arts, BCI, and locked-in syndrome

There are actors who cannot move. The question is, can they act? The traditional conception of performing arts would demand an answer in the negative. However, technology provides a way to go beyond the traditional definition and present people with locked-in syndrome or other severe motor impairments with the opportunity to claim a place in the performing arts. BCIs in particular represent an interesting venue for reaching this goal as they aim to provide an efficient mechanism of control of external systems and these external systems might, in turn, be defined, designed, and built with artistic expression purposes in mind. This paper proposes three conceptual models to guide the design of such systems.

Neurophysiological characteristics of acts of remembering in the process of positive ageing / Características neurofisiológicas de los actos de recuerdo en el proceso de envejecimiento positivo

Abstract ‘Acts of remembering’ refer to the conscious cognitive process that facilitates recognition of socioculturally relevant events. This study presents an analysis of the differences and similarities between the morphological characteristics and architecture of Event-Related Potentials associated with the visual recognition of cultural events, by comparing a group of older adults (n = 15) with a group of young adults (n = 17). The results show similar modulations in the N1, P2, P300 and N400 components while a differential modulation appears in N200, a component that has been associated with attentional processes. Two ways of interpreting the results are put forward: one suggests that with age come greater difficulties for cognitive processing and the other suggests that older adults have a particular interest in this type of material.