Delivering instructional microstimulation in frontal and parietal cortical areas

翻译后摘要：对于失用症的个人，损害涉及的大脑皮层区域，或连接 在这些区域之间，导致无法执行与特定对象相关的特定动作，或 指导。神经修复技术可以通过人工神经连接绕过受损的神经连接， 特定皮层区域的指令。传递人工指令的一种方法是皮层内的 微刺激（ICMS）。先前的研究表明，初级躯体感觉皮层的ICMS可以 提供关于如何执行行为任务的指导。刺激初级躯体感觉皮层 身体不同部位的感觉。这些不同的感觉与特定的运动有关。 响应，以执行任务。拟议的研究将审查使用ICMS提供 大脑皮层区域的指令。执着是一种伸手去拿的行为， 通过两条平行的神经通路，视觉信息从顶叶皮层传播到 运动前皮层的运动皮层。据我们所知，还没有人研究过ICMS如何提供 其他皮层区域的指令。重要的是要了解其他皮层区域是否可以指示与 ICMS同样很好，以开发恢复受损皮质-皮质连接的方法。初步 来自该应用的数据表明ICMS指令可以成功地传递到腹侧前运动皮层， 一个涉及规划的领域。基于这些成功的初步结果，其他额叶和顶叶 将测试涉及到的领域，以确定如何以及ICMS指令可以交付。 了解哪些皮层区域最容易被刺激来传递指令，以及 潜在的皮质-皮质连接会影响这些人工指令的神经处理， 神经假体技术绕过受损的皮质-皮质连接，成为临床上可行的 用于恢复丧失的认知运动功能的方法。

Abstract: For individuals with apraxia, damage to cortical areas involved in prehension, or the connections between these areas, results in an inability to perform a specific action associated with a particular object or instruction. Neuroprosthetic technology could bypass the damaged neural connections by delivering artificial instructions to specific cortical areas. One method of delivering artificial instructions is intracortical microstimulation (ICMS). Previous studies have demonstrated ICMS in primary somatosensory cortex can deliver instructions about how to perform behavioral tasks. Stimulating primary somatosensory cortex elicits sensations at different parts of the body. These different sensations are then associated with specific motor responses in order to perform the task. The proposed studies will examine the ability to use ICMS to deliver instructions in cortical areas associated with prehension. Prehension is the act of reaching and grasping, elaborated through two parallel neural pathways whereby visual information propagates from parietal cortex to motor cortex by way of premotor cortex. To our knowledge, no one has studied how ICMS could deliver instructions in other cortical areas. It is important to understand if other cortical areas can be instructed with ICMS equally well in order to develop methods for restoring damaged cortico-cortical connections. Preliminary data from this application suggest ICMS instructions can be successfully delivered to ventral premotor cortex, an area involved in planning grasps. Based on these successful preliminary results, other frontal and parietal areas involved in prehension will be tested to determine how well ICMS instructions can be delivered. Understanding which cortical areas can most readily be stimulated to deliver instructions, and how the underlying cortico-cortical connectivity affects the neural processing of these artificial instructions, will enable neuroprosthetic technology to bypass damaged cortico-cortical connections and become a clinically viable method for restoring lost cognitive motor function.