Learning in the brain-computer interface: Insights about degrees of freedom and degeneracy from a landscape model of motor learning

In this paper, we examine the role of degrees of freedom and their degeneracy in learning in the brain-computer interface paradigm. Though the traditional notion of degrees of freedom in motor learning gave emphasis to muscle and joint activity, the broader concept of dimensions of behavior is relevant to brain-computer interface learning where there is no muscle activity. The role of degeneracy in the dimensions of brain activity is proposed to enhance learning through robustness to stability loss and adaptability in the search for new stable states. Principles for the application of augmented information for learning to coordinate and control the degenerate degrees of freedom in the brain-computer interface are outlined.