DO NOT LOSE SLEEP OVER IT: IMPLANTED BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACE FUNCTIONALITY DURING NIGHTTIME IN LATE-STAGE AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS.

Background And Objectives: Brain-computer interfaces () hold promise as augmentative and alternative communication technology for people with severe motor and speech impairment (locked-in syndrome) due to neural disease or injury. Although such BCIs should be available 24/7, to enable communication at all times, feasibility of nocturnal BCI use has not been investigated. Here, we addressed this question using data from an individual with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who was implanted with an electrocorticography-based BCI that enabled the generation of click-commands for spelling words and call-caregiver signals.

Decoding Single and Paired Phonemes Using 7T Functional MRI.

Several studies have shown that mouth movements related to the pronunciation of individual phonemes are represented in the sensorimotor cortex. This would theoretically allow for brain computer interfaces that are capable of decoding continuous speech by training classifiers based on the activity in the sensorimotor cortex related to the production of individual phonemes. To address this, we investigated the decodability of trials with individual and paired phonemes (pronounced consecutively with one second interval) using activity in the sensorimotor cortex.

ER-detect: a pipeline for robust detection of early evoked responses in BIDS-iEEG electrical stimulation data.

Human brain connectivity can be measured in different ways. Intracranial EEG (iEEG) measurements during single pulse electrical stimulation provide a unique way to assess the spread of electrical information with millisecond precision. To provide a robust workflow to process these cortico-cortical evoked potential (CCEP) data and detect early evoked responses in a fully automated and reproducible fashion, we developed Early Response (ER)-detect.

Pattern classification based on the amygdala does not predict an individual's response to emotional stimuli.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have often recorded robust univariate group effects in the amygdala of subjects exposed to emotional stimuli. Yet it is unclear to what extent this effect also holds true when multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) is applied at the level of the individual participant. Here we sought to answer this question.

A motor association area in the depths of the central sulcus.

Cells in the precentral gyrus directly send signals to the periphery to generate movement and are principally organized as a topological map of the body. We find that movement-induced electrophysiological responses from depth electrodes extend this map three-dimensionally throughout the gyrus. Unexpectedly, this organization is interrupted by a previously undescribed motor association area in the depths of the midlateral aspect of the central sulcus.

Developmental trajectory of transmission speed in the human brain.

The structure of the human connectome develops from childhood throughout adolescence to middle age, but how these structural changes affect the speed of neuronal signaling is not well described. In 74 subjects, we measured the latency of cortico-cortical evoked responses across association and U-fibers and calculated their corresponding transmission speeds. Decreases in conduction delays until at least 30 years show that the speed of neuronal communication develops well into adulthood.

Typical somatomotor physiology of the hand is preserved in a patient with an amputated arm: An ECoG case study.

Electrophysiological signals in the human motor system may change in different ways after deafferentation, with some studies emphasizing reorganization while others propose retained physiology. Understanding whether motor electrophysiology is retained over longer periods of time can be invaluable for patients with paralysis (e.g.

Functional MRI based simulations of ECoG grid configurations for optimal measurement of spatially distributed hand-gesture information.

. In electrocorticography (ECoG), the physical characteristics of the electrode grid determine which aspect of the neurophysiology is measured. For particular cases, the ECoG grid may be tailored to capture specific features, such as in the development and use of brain-computer interfaces (BCI).

Towards an intuitive communication-BCI: decoding visually imagined characters from the early visual cortex using high-field fMRI.

Brain-computer interfaces aim to provide people with paralysis with the possibility to use their neural signals to control devices. For communication, most BCIs are based on the selection of letters from a (digital) letter board to spell words and sentences. Visual mental imagery of letters could offer a new, fast and intuitive way to spell in a BCI-communication solution.

Rapid acquisition of dynamic control over DLPFC using real-time fMRI feedback.

It has been postulated that gaining control over activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a key region of the working memory brain network, may be beneficial for cognitive performance and treatment of certain psychiatric disorders. Several studies have reported that, with neurofeedback training, subjects can learn to increase DLPFC activity. However, improvement of dynamic control in terms of switching between low and high activity in DLPFC brain states may potentially constitute more effective self-regulation.

Fully Implanted Brain-Computer Interface in a Locked-In Patient with ALS.

Options for people with severe paralysis who have lost the ability to communicate orally are limited. We describe a method for communication in a patient with late-stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), involving a fully implanted brain-computer interface that consists of subdural electrodes placed over the motor cortex and a transmitter placed subcutaneously in the left side of the thorax. By attempting to move the hand on the side opposite the implanted electrodes, the patient accurately and independently controlled a computer typing program 28 weeks after electrode placement, at the equivalent of two letters per minute.

Visual relations children find easy and difficult to process in figural analogies.

Analogical reasoning, the ability to learn about novel phenomena by relating it to structurally similar knowledge, develops with great variability in children. Furthermore, the development of analogical reasoning coincides with greater working memory efficiency and increasing knowledge of the entities and relations present in analogy problems. In figural matrices, a classical form of analogical reasoning assessment, some features, such as color, appear easier for children to encode and infer than others, such as orientation.