Inferring Arm Movement Direction from EEG Signals Using Explainable Deep Learning

Decoding reaching movements from non-invasive brain signals is a key challenge for the development of naturalistic brain–computer interfaces (BCIs). While this decoding problem has been addressed via traditional machine learning, the exploitation of deep learning is still limited. Here, we evaluate a convolutional neural network (CNN) for decoding movement direction during a delayed center-out reaching task from the EEG. Signals were collected from twenty healthy participants and analyzed using EEGNet to discriminate reaching endpoints in three scenarios: fine-direction (five endpoints), coarse-direction (three endpoints), and proximity (two endpoints) classifications. To interpret the decoding process, the CNN was coupled with explanation techniques, including DeepLIFT and occlusion tests, enabling a data-driven analysis of spatio-temporal EEG features. The proposed approach achieved accuracies well above chance, with accuracies of 0.45 (five endpoints), 0.64 (three endpoints) and 0.70 (two endpoints) on average across subjects. Explainability analyses revealed that directional information is predominantly encoded during movement preparation, particularly in parietal and parietal–occipital regions, consistent with known visuomotor planning mechanisms and with EEG analysis based on event-related spectral perturbations. These results demonstrate the feasibility and interpretability of CNN-based EEG decoding for reaching movements, providing insights relevant for both neuroscience and the prospective development of non-invasive BCIs.