Abstract
Objective
Research on individuals with brain-computer interface (BCI) presents not only technological challenges but ethical challenges (e.g., psychological aspects) as well. We assessed the mental health of a senile patient with tetraplegia after an invasive implantation of BCI and a long-term daily training, in order to provide new experience about the ethical impact of BCI on users and inform future clinical applications of such devices.
Methods
This case was a 71-year-old man with tetraplegia for 2 years. Prior to the implant surgery of BCI, and 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, and 9 months after training, a series of tests for cognition, emotion, social support, sleep, and quality of life were performed to evaluate the patient’s mental health.
Results
Compared with baseline before surgery, the patients’ cognition, emotion, social support, sleep, and quality of life improved after the surgery and the long-term daily training. At 3 months post-training, the patient’s cognitive score measured by Mini-mental State Examination reached the cutoff point for cognitive impairment in the elderly. Subjective well-being and quality of life showed a slight decline at 9 months post-training compared with that 3 months post-training but remained above the baseline.
Conclusion
This study shows the psychological benefits in a senile patient after an invasive BCI implantation and a long-term daily training. BCI ethics is still in its early stages, and further research is needed to understand emerging psychological states of this specific population.
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Data availability
The datasets used during the current study are available from the authors on reasonable request. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.
Code availability
Not applicable.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Dr. Chenghan Wu for his constructive comments and suggestions during the revision.
Funding
Grants from National Key R&D Plan of China (2017YFC1308500).
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Contributions
Hongjie Jiang, Ying Ma, Junming Zhu, and Jianmin Zhang all contributed to the study conception, design, and implementation. Rui Wang was involved in data analysis and manuscript drafting.
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Ethical approval
Oral informed consent was obtained from the patient who was limited by tetraplegia; Written informed consent was obtained from the guardian of the patient; the study was approved by the Human Ethics Committee of Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine.
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Wang, R., Zhu, J., Zhang, J. et al. Psychological assessments of a senile patient with tetraplegia who received brain-computer interface implantation: a case report. Neurol Sci 43, 1427–1430 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-021-05393-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-021-05393-x