Section: New Results

Turning negative into positives! Exploiting “negative” results in Brain-Computer Interface research

Participants: Fabien Lotte

External collaborators: Laurent Bougrain, Ricardo Chavarriaga, Camille Jeunet, Karen Dijkstra, Andrea Kübler, Reinhold Scherer, Moritz Grosse-Wentrup, Natalie Dayan, Dave Thompson, Md Rakibul Mowla

Results that do not confirm expectations are generally referred to as “negative” results. While essential for scientific progress, they are too rarely reported in the literature - BCI research is no exception. This led us to organize a workshop on BCI negative results during the 2018 International BCI meeting. First, we demonstrated why (valid) negative results are useful, and even necessary for BCIs. These results can be used to confirm or disprove current BCI knowledge, or to refine current theories. Second, we provided concrete examples of such useful negative results, including the limits in BCI-control for complete locked-in users and predictors of motor imagery BCI performances. Finally, we suggested levers to promote the diffusion of (valid) BCI negative results, e.g., promoting hypothesis-driven research using valid statistical tools, organizing special issues dedicated to BCI negative results, or convincing institutions and editors that negative results are valuable. This work was published in the Brain-Computer Interface journal, in [16].