Covert Sensorimotor Mapping for Guiding Brain-Computer Interfaces

用于指导脑机接口的隐蔽感觉运动映射

• 批准号: 8781356
• 负责人: MICHAEL L. BONINGER
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8781356
• 关键词: Afferent Pathways; Area; Auditory; Back; Brain; Brain Mapping; Brain region; Cerebral cortex; Clinical; Code; Cues; Cutaneous; Diagnosis; Efferent Pathways; Electric Stimulation; Electrical Stimulation of the Brain; Electrodes; Epilepsy; Esthesia; Feedback; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Future; Goals; Hand; Imagery; Impairment; Implanted Electrodes; Injury; Intention; Intervention; Investigation; Knowledge; Limb structure; Literature; Maps; Measurement; Measures; Methods; Motor; Motor Cortex; Movement; Neural Pathways; Neurons; Participant; Pattern; Persons; Population; Procedures; Prosthesis; Protocols documentation; Publishing; Quadriplegia; Recruitment Activity; Rehabilitation therapy; Reporting; Research; Self-Help Devices; Sensory; Somatosensory Cortex; Spinal cord injury; Stimulus; Stroke; Structure; Techniques; Testing; Time; Translating; Upper Extremity; Upper limb movement; Veterans; Visual; arm; auditory feedback; base; brain computer interface; design; improved; insight; joint mobilization; limb movement; nervous system disorder; neurofeedback; neuroimaging; novel; public health relevance; rehabilitation paradigm; restoration; sensory stimulus; somatosensory

DESCRIPTION: Advanced understanding of brain structure and function has improved the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders such as epilepsy, stroke, and spinal cord injury (SCI). Over half a century ago, Penfield used electrical stimulation of motor and sensory areas of cerebral cortex and revealed a distinct somatotopic organization of the brain. Today, this and additional knowledge of neuronal coding functions are being used to develop brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that establish functional connections between cortical neurons and prosthetic and assistive devices. BCIs often use electrodes placed in brain areas responsible for volitional control and sensation of limb movements, particularly the arm and hand regions. Mapping brain regions is possible using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), although studies are difficult to perform in persons with motor and sensory impairments. People with SCI have disrupted efferent and afferent pathways between the cortex and the limbs making it necessary to rely on covert techniques, such as kinesthetic motor imagery, to map sensorimotor brain activity. Challenges associated with brain mapping likely contribute to the varying reports regarding the extent of functional reorganization occurring in the brain following SCI. The goal of the proposed research is to develop novel covert paradigms for mapping sensorimotor brain activity. Visual or auditory cueing has been shown to improve the timing and vividness of motor imagery. Therefore, we expect that increasing sensory enrichment will strengthen the activation observed in the sensorimotor cortex during covert motor and sensory tasks. We will test multiple levels of sensory enrichment with the goal of enhancing sensorimotor activation. The four conditions that will be tested are: (1) simple imagery of a single- joint movement or sensory stimulus, (2) goal-directed imagery, (2) goal-directed imagery with auditory enrichment, (3) goal-directed imagery with auditory and somatosensory enrichment. Functional MRI will be used to measure motor, cutaneous, and proprioceptive cortical representations using the covert mapping paradigms described above. Able-bodied subjects will be recruited to allow for comparison of imagery-based cortical activation patterns to that measured during overt movement and sensory stimulation. We will also recruit participants with tetraplegia due to SCI allowing for confirmation that the covert mapping paradigms translate to the clinical population. We will test whether covert movement and stimuli activate the sensorimotor cortex in the expected manner based on published literature and overt mapping in able-bodied subjects. Enriched covert brain mapping will allow for measurement of cortical reorganization when overt techniques cannot be used. Through this study, we will gain an understanding of how imagined movement, cutaneous stimulation, and passive movement produce similar (or different) activation of the motor and somatosensory cortex. In future studies, we plan to use covert mapping to guide BCI electrode design and placement. Moreover, these advanced mapping procedures will provide new insights into the functional interactions between sensory and motor areas of the brain in able-bodied persons, and the effects of SCI on these functions. Neurofeedback rehabilitation protocols could be designed to target abnormal cortical activity directly, or sensory enrichments could be incorporated into traditional rehabilitation paradigms to facilitate activation of dormant neural pathways.

说明： 对大脑结构和功能的深入了解提高了癫痫、中风和脊髓损伤(SCI)等神经系统疾病的诊断和治疗水平。半个多世纪前，彭菲尔德使用电刺激大脑皮层的运动和感觉区域，揭示了大脑的一种独特的体位组织。今天，这一点和对神经元编码功能的额外了解正被用于开发脑机接口(BCI)，在皮质神经元与假肢和辅助设备之间建立功能连接。BCI经常使用放置在负责意志控制和肢体运动感觉的大脑区域的电极，特别是手臂和手区域。使用功能磁共振成像(FMRI)绘制大脑区域图是可能的，尽管对运动和感觉障碍的人进行研究是困难的。患有脊髓损伤的人扰乱了大脑皮层和四肢之间的传出和传入通路，这使得有必要依靠隐蔽的技术，如运动觉运动成像，来绘制感觉运动大脑活动的地图。与脑地形图相关的挑战可能导致关于脊髓损伤后大脑功能重组程度的不同报道。的目标是 这项拟议的研究是为了开发新的隐蔽范式来绘制感觉运动大脑活动图。视觉或听觉暗示已被证明可以改善运动想象的时序和生动程度。因此，我们预计，增加感觉丰富将加强在隐蔽运动和感觉任务中观察到的感觉运动皮质的激活。我们将测试多个水平的感觉丰富，目标是增强感觉运动的激活。将被测试的四种条件是：(1)单一关节运动或感觉刺激的简单意象，(2)目标定向意象，(2)具有听觉丰富的目标定向意象，(3)具有听觉和躯体感觉丰富的目标定向意象。功能磁共振成像将被用来测量运动、皮肤和本体感觉皮质的表征，使用上述隐蔽的标测范例。将招募身体健全的受试者，以便将基于图像的皮质激活模式与在公开运动和感觉刺激时测量的模式进行比较。我们还将招募因脊髓损伤而四肢瘫痪的参与者，以确认隐蔽的标测范例适用于临床人群。我们将根据已发表的文献和健康受试者的显性图谱，测试隐蔽的运动和刺激是否以预期的方式激活感觉运动皮质。丰富的隐蔽脑图将允许在无法使用公开技术时测量皮质重组。通过这项研究，我们将了解想象运动、皮肤刺激和被动运动如何产生相似(或不同)的运动和躯体感觉皮层的激活。在未来的研究中，我们计划使用隐蔽映射来指导BCI电极的设计和放置。此外，这些先进的标测程序将为了解健全人大脑感觉和运动区之间的功能相互作用以及脊髓损伤对这些功能的影响提供新的见解。神经反馈康复方案可以设计成直接针对异常的皮质活动，或者可以将感觉丰富纳入传统的康复范例中，以 促进休眠神经通路的激活。