Future developments in brain-machine interface research

Abstract

Neuroprosthetic devices based on brain-machine interface technology hold promise for the restoration of body mobility in patients suffering from devastating motor deficits caused by brain injury, neurologic diseases and limb loss. During the last decade, considerable progress has been achieved in this multidisciplinary research, mainly in the brain-machine interface that enacts upper-limb functionality. However, a considerable number of problems need to be resolved before fully functional limb neuroprostheses can be built. To move towards developing neuroprosthetic devices for humans, brain-machine interface research has to address a number of issues related to improving the quality of neuronal recordings, achieving stable, long-term performance, and extending the brain-machine interface approach to a broad range of motor and sensory functions. Here, we review the future steps that are part of the strategic plan of the Duke University Center for Neuroengineering, and its partners, the Brazilian National Institute of Brain-Machine Interfaces and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Center for Neuroprosthetics, to bring this new technology to clinical fruition.

Interfacing a salamander brain with a salamander-like robot: Control of speed and direction with calcium signals from brainstem reticulospinal neurons

“…[6], [7]). BMIs controlling lower limbs are also developed to improve locomotor function, but still to a much lesser extent [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], for review see [14]. To restore *Research supported by the Swiss National Science foundation (Project 140714).…”

Processamento auditivo e afasia: uma revisão sistemática

“…Considering that language can't be divorced from listening, these studies can be analyzed in an argument supported by the precepts of distributive theory, corroborated by the work of Nicolelis 18 and Lebedev et al 19 . The distributionist argument explains brain function or behavior from the premise that the human brain prefers to accomplish all your tasks through the collective work of large populations of neurons distributed across multiple brain regions, able to participate in the genesis of multiple functions simultaneously.…”

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“…The prosthesis field is expansive, including peripheral and cortical prostheses, with applications including restoration of lost motor and sensory function in artificial limbs; cochlear prostheses for restoring audition [5,6]; retinal prostheses for restoring vision [7][8][9]; and cortical prostheses for inducing sensory percepts and reading motor intent directly from the brain [10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. An effective prosthesis must encode a variety of unique stimuli.…”