A Roadmap for Implanting Electrode Arrays to Evoke Tactile Sensations Through Intracortical Stimulation.

Intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) is a method for restoring sensation to people with paralysis as part of a bidirectional brain-computer interface (BCI) to restore upper limb function. Evoking tactile sensations of the hand through ICMS requires precise targeting of implanted electrodes. Here we describe the presurgical imaging procedures used to generate functional maps of the hand area of the somatosensory cortex and subsequent planning that guided the implantation of intracortical microelectrode arrays.

A novel robot-assisted method for implanting intracortical sensorimotor devices for brain-computer interface studies: principles, surgical techniques, and challenges.

Precise anatomical implantation of a microelectrode array is fundamental for successful brain-computer interface (BCI) surgery, ensuring high-quality, robust signal communication between the brain and the computer interface. Robotic neurosurgery can contribute to this goal, but its application in BCI surgery has been underexplored. Here, the authors present a novel robot-assisted surgical technique to implant rigid intracortical microelectrode arrays for the BCI.

Motor somatotopy impacts imagery strategy success in human intracortical brain-computer interfaces.

The notion of a somatotopically organized motor cortex, with movements of different body parts being controlled by spatially distinct areas of cortex, is well known. However, recent studies have challenged this notion and suggested a more distributed representation of movement control. This shift in perspective has significant implications, particularly when considering the implantation location of electrode arrays for intracortical brain-computer interfaces (iBCIs).

A roadmap for implanting microelectrode arrays to evoke tactile sensations through intracortical microstimulation.

Intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) is a method for restoring sensation to people with paralysis as part of a bidirectional brain-computer interface to restore upper limb function. Evoking tactile sensations of the hand through ICMS requires precise targeting of implanted electrodes. Here we describe the presurgical imaging procedures used to generate functional maps of the hand area of the somatosensory cortex and subsequent planning that guided the implantation of intracortical microelectrode arrays.

Stable Cortical Body Maps Before and After Arm Amputation.

Neuroscientists have long debated the adult brain's capacity to reorganize itself in response to injury. A driving model for studying plasticity has been limb amputation. For decades, it was believed that amputation triggers large-scale reorganization of cortical body resources.

Should bionic limb control mimic the human body? Impact of control strategy on bionic hand skill learning.

A longstanding engineering ambition has been to design anthropomorphic bionic limbs: devices that look like and are controlled in the same way as the biological body (biomimetic). The untested assumption is that biomimetic motor control enhances device embodiment, learning, generalization, and automaticity. To test this, we compared biomimetic and non-biomimetic control strategies for able-bodied participants when learning to operate a wearable myoelectric bionic hand.

Making sense of phantom limb pain.

Phantom limb pain (PLP) impacts the majority of individuals who undergo limb amputation. The PLP experience is highly heterogenous in its quality, intensity, frequency and severity. This heterogeneity, combined with the low prevalence of amputation in the general population, has made it difficult to accumulate reliable data on PLP.

Early life experience sets hard limits on motor learning as evidenced from artificial arm use.

The study of artificial arms provides a unique opportunity to address long-standing questions on sensorimotor plasticity and development. Learning to use an artificial arm arguably depends on fundamental building blocks of body representation and would therefore be impacted by early life experience. We tested artificial arm motor-control in two adult populations with upper-limb deficiencies: a congenital group-individuals who were born with a partial arm, and an acquired group-who lost their arm following amputation in adulthood.

Expert Tool Users Show Increased Differentiation between Visual Representations of Hands and Tools.

The idea that when we use a tool we incorporate it into the neural representation of our body (embodiment) has been a major inspiration for philosophy, science, and engineering. While theoretically appealing, there is little direct evidence for tool embodiment at the neural level. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in male and female human subjects, we investigated whether expert tool users (London litter pickers: = 7) represent their expert tool more like a hand (neural embodiment) or less like a hand (neural differentiation), as compared with a group of tool novices ( = 12).

Motor control drives visual bodily judgements.

The 'embodied cognition' framework proposes that our motor repertoire shapes visual perception and cognition. But recent studies showing normal visual body representation in individuals born without hands challenges the contribution of motor control on visual body representation. Here, we studied hand laterality judgements in three groups with fundamentally different visual and motor hand experiences: two-handed controls, one-handers born without a hand (congenital one-handers) and one-handers with an acquired amputation (amputees).

Direct, high-yield conversions of cellulose into biofuel and platform chemicals-on the way to a sustainable biobased economy.

Steering away from alcohol: Fermentation of carbohydrates to ethanol might not be the best way to utilize biomass for the production of fuels and platform chemicals. Two different new remarkable approaches lead to polyols or furfural derivatives.

How to improve instrument disinfection by ultrasound.

Ultrasound technologies have a wide range of hospital and dental applications which include cleaning and disinfection of surgical and dental instruments. We measured the germicidal efficacy of sonication, with or without chemical disinfectants, in an ultrasonic bath delivering a frequency of 35 kHz and an intensity of 0.66 W/cm2.