ArticleFrontiers in neuroengineering2014
Effectiveness of the P3-speller in brain-computer interfaces for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in Frontiers in neuroengineering, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of research on augmentative and alternative communication brain-computer interface systems for individuals with disabilities.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Noninvasive decoding of typed sentences from human brain activity.Nature neuroscience · 2026Article
- The ASME-speller: 30-class auditory brain-computer interface speller using stream segregation and the QWERTY layout.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Brain-computer interface: an update for the clinicians.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Review
- Towards decoding individual words from non-invasive brain recordings.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Brain-Computer Interfaces, Completely Locked-In State in Neurodegenerative Diseases, and End-of-Life Decisions.Journal of bioethical inquiry · 2024Article
- Identifying Thematics in a Brain-Computer Interface Research.Computational intelligence and neuroscience · 2023Review
- Impact of Speller Size on a Visual P300 Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) System under Two Conditions of Constraint for Eye Movement.Computational intelligence and neuroscience · 2019Article
- Screening for Cognitive Function in Complete Immobility Using Brain-Machine Interfaces: A Proof of Principle Study.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2018Article
- Communication Matters-Pitfalls and Promise of Hightech Communication Devices in Palliative Care of Severely Physically Disabled Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.Frontiers in neurology · 2018Review
- Scenario Screen: A Dynamic and Context Dependent P300 Stimulator Screen Aimed at Wheelchair Navigation Control.Computational and mathematical methods in medicine · 2018Article
- EEG-Based Brain-Computer Interfaces for Communication and Rehabilitation of People with Motor Impairment:Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2018Review
- Reaching and Grasping a Glass of Water by Locked-In ALS Patients through a BCI-Controlled Humanoid Robot.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2017Article
- An Evaluation of Training with an Auditory P300 Brain-Computer Interface for the Japanese Hiragana Syllabary.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2016Article
- Comparison of eye tracking, electrooculography and an auditory brain-computer interface for binary communication: a case study with a participant in the locked-in state.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2015Article
- Interaction of BCI with the underlying neurological conditions in patients: pros and cons.Frontiers in neuroengineering · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
A quarter of century ago, Farwell and Donchin (1988) described their mental prosthesis for "talking off the top of your head." This innovative communication system, later named P3-speller, has been the most investigated and tested brain-computer interface (BCI) system, to date. A main goal of the research on P3-spellers was the development of an effective assistive device for patients with severe motor diseases. Among these patients are those affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ALS patients have become a target population in P3-speller (and more generally in BCI) research. The P3-speller relies on the visual sensory modality, and it can be controlled by requiring users to actively move their eyes. Unfortunately, eye-movement control is usually not spared in the last stages of ALS, and, then, it is definitively lost in the case of complete paralysis. We reviewed the literature on ALS patients tested by means of P3-speller systems. Our aim was to investigate the evidence available to date of the P3-spellers effectiveness in ALS patients. To address this goal, a meta-analytic approach was adopted. The pooled classification accuracy performance, among retrieved studies, was about 74%. This estimation, however, was affected by significant heterogeneity and inconsistency among studies. This fact makes this percentage estimation (i.e., 74%) unreliable. Nowadays, the conclusion is that the initial hopes posed on P3-speller for ALS patients have not been met yet. In addition, no trials in which the P3-speller has been compared to current assistive technologies for communication (e.g., eye-trackers) are available. In conclusion, further studies are required to obtain a reliable index of P3-speller effectiveness in ALS. Furthermore, comparisons of P3-speller systems with the available assistive technologies are needed to assess the P3-speller usefulness with non-completely paralyzed ALS-patients.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.