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Direct Communication Between Brains: A Systematic PRISMA Review of Brain-To-Brain Interface.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Nam, CS; Traylor, Z; Chen, M; Jiang, X; Feng, W; Chhatbar, PY
Published in: Front Neurorobot
2021

This paper aims to review the current state of brain-to-brain interface (B2BI) technology and its potential. B2BIs function via a brain-computer interface (BCI) to read a sender's brain activity and a computer-brain interface (CBI) to write a pattern to a receiving brain, transmitting information. We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) to systematically review current literature related to B2BI, resulting in 15 relevant publications. Experimental papers primarily used transcranial magnetic stimulation (tMS) for the CBI portion of their B2BI. Most targeted the visual cortex to produce phosphenes. In terms of study design, 73.3% (11) are unidirectional and 86.7% (13) use only a 1:1 collaboration model (subject to subject). Limitations are apparent, as the CBI method varied greatly between studies indicating no agreed upon neurostimulatory method for transmitting information. Furthermore, only 12.4% (2) studies are more complicated than a 1:1 model and few researchers studied direct bidirectional B2BI. These studies show B2BI can offer advances in human communication and collaboration, but more design and experiments are needed to prove potential. B2BIs may allow rehabilitation therapists to pass information mentally, activating a patient's brain to aid in stroke recovery and adding more complex bidirectionality may allow for increased behavioral synchronization between users. The field is very young, but applications of B2BI technology to neuroergonomics and human factors engineering clearly warrant more research.

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Published In

Front Neurorobot

DOI

ISSN

1662-5218

Publication Date

2021

Volume

15

Start / End Page

656943

Location

Switzerland

Related Subject Headings

  • 46 Information and computing sciences
  • 40 Engineering
  • 1109 Neurosciences
  • 0903 Biomedical Engineering
  • 0801 Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
 

Citation

APA
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ICMJE
MLA
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Nam, C. S., Traylor, Z., Chen, M., Jiang, X., Feng, W., & Chhatbar, P. Y. (2021). Direct Communication Between Brains: A Systematic PRISMA Review of Brain-To-Brain Interface. Front Neurorobot, 15, 656943. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbot.2021.656943
Nam, Chang S., Zachary Traylor, Mengyue Chen, Xiaoning Jiang, Wuwei Feng, and Pratik Yashvant Chhatbar. “Direct Communication Between Brains: A Systematic PRISMA Review of Brain-To-Brain Interface.Front Neurorobot 15 (2021): 656943. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbot.2021.656943.
Nam CS, Traylor Z, Chen M, Jiang X, Feng W, Chhatbar PY. Direct Communication Between Brains: A Systematic PRISMA Review of Brain-To-Brain Interface. Front Neurorobot. 2021;15:656943.
Nam, Chang S., et al. “Direct Communication Between Brains: A Systematic PRISMA Review of Brain-To-Brain Interface.Front Neurorobot, vol. 15, 2021, p. 656943. Pubmed, doi:10.3389/fnbot.2021.656943.
Nam CS, Traylor Z, Chen M, Jiang X, Feng W, Chhatbar PY. Direct Communication Between Brains: A Systematic PRISMA Review of Brain-To-Brain Interface. Front Neurorobot. 2021;15:656943.

Published In

Front Neurorobot

DOI

ISSN

1662-5218

Publication Date

2021

Volume

15

Start / End Page

656943

Location

Switzerland

Related Subject Headings

  • 46 Information and computing sciences
  • 40 Engineering
  • 1109 Neurosciences
  • 0903 Biomedical Engineering
  • 0801 Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing