The effects of working memory on brain-computer interface performance

•Psychological factors such as working memory may help to account for individual differences in BCI performance.•Working memory is a construct that can be increased through training, making it a potential avenue for increasing BCI performance.•Reducing individual differences in BCI performance can lead to a wider range of users and higher BCI performance accuracy.

ObjectiveThe purpose of the present study is to evaluate the relationship between working memory and BCI performance.MethodsParticipants took part in two separate sessions. The first session consisted of three computerized tasks. The List Sorting Working Memory Task was used to measure working memory, the Picture Vocabulary Test was used to measure general intelligence, and the Dimensional Change Card Sort Test was used to measure executive function, specifically cognitive flexibility. The second session consisted of a P300-based BCI copy-spelling task.ResultsThe results indicate that both working memory and general intelligence are significant predictors of BCI performance.ConclusionsThis suggests that working memory training could be used to improve performance on a BCI task.SignificanceWorking memory training may help to reduce a portion of the individual differences that exist in BCI performance allowing for a wider range of users to successfully operate the BCI system as well as increase the BCI performance of current users.