Auditory event-related potentials related to binaural sound attention

Abstract

In recent years, brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) using auditory attention have been studied. Previous studies employ spatially distributed auditory stimuli using multiple speakers or several kinds of sounds for stimulation. The former has less portability while the latter makes users remember correspondence of stimuli with functions of BMI. In the present study, we examined the possibility that the target of auditory attention can be estimated using auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) related to attention to binaural sound with a single pure tone. In the experiment, earphones were used to present left monaural, right monaural or binaural pure tone of 2 kHz to subjects. The subjects attended to left or right auditory stimulus and maintained a mental count of the attended stimulus. We investigated that P300 components could be confirmed when the auditory stimulus was presented at the attended side based on ERP analyses.