Music Is All in the Mind From: Nature - 03/18/2011 By: Philip Ball University of Plymouth composer and computer-music specialist Eduardo Miranda worked with computer scientists at the University of Essex to create a computer-music system that disabled users can control with their brain. The system uses electroencephalography (EEG) to detect the electrical impulses of neurons that could help people with severe physical disabilities to create music for recreational or therapeutic purposes. "This is an interesting avenue, and might be very useful for patients," says Maastricht University neuroscientist Rainer Goebel. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) rely on the user's ability to learn how to self-induce certain mental states that brain-scanning technologies can detect. Users need to be taught how to associate certain brain signals with different tasks, which will result in a specific pattern in the EEG signal. For instance, the researchers can show users flashing buttons on a computer screen, which the users can push by focusing their attention on it. "When I realized the potential of a musical BCI for the well-being of severely disabled people, I couldn't leave the idea alone," Miranda says. "Now I can't separate this work from my activities as a composer." Read the entire article at: http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110318/full/news.2011.113.html Links: Eduardo Miranda http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/emiranda Mental ping-pong could aid paraplegics http://www.nature.com/news/2004/040827/full/news040823-18.html Brain-Computer Music Interfacing http://mmd.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/02/28/1943862111399290