CORTICAL CONTROL OF NEURAL PROSTHESES

国家神经疾病和中风研究所的神经假体项目致力于研究和开发功能性神经肌肉刺激（FNS），以尽可能高的功能水平恢复四肢瘫痪患者的手和手臂功能。这些FNS系统在个人的自愿控制下运行。产生用于与个体集成的假体的控制信号的未受伤的，自愿的，皮质运动系统是任何潜在的FNS系统的关键部分。目前，控制信号是由未麻痹的肌肉（如对侧肩部）的自主运动产生的。本研究的目的是建立在中枢神经系统（CNS）的神经元的直接自愿控制产生控制信号的可行性。为了证明皮质神经活动可用于控制假体，我们需要证明CNS中选定细胞群的神经活动可以在较长时间内可靠地记录。然后，我们必须证明，来自这些神经元的信号，在自主控制下，能够可靠地控制一个机电设备。在目前的合同期间，已经证明大鼠可以调节其运动皮层的神经活动，以控制机械臂取回食物奖励。目前正在努力在具有脑回的动物中复制这些结果，但到目前为止，在较大的脑动物中难以实现慢性记录。 这项研究的重点将是在一个灵长类动物的脑回慢性微电极记录技术的发展。还将研究从记录的神经活动中提取控制信号。

The Neural Prosthesis Program of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is committed to research and development on functional neuromuscular stimulation (FNS) to restore hand and arm function in quadriplegic individuals at the highest functional level possible. These FNS systems operate under the voluntary control of the individual. Generating control signals for a prosthesis that are integrated with the individuals uninjured, voluntary, cortical motor system is a critical part of any potential FNS system. Presently, control signals are generated by voluntary movements of unparalyzed muscles such as the contralateral shoulder. The goal of this research is to establish the feasibility of generating control signals by direct voluntary control of neurons in the central nervous system (CNS). To demonstrate that cortical neural activity can be used to control a prosthesis, we need to demonstrate that the neural activity of selected cell populations in the CNS can be reliably recorded for extended periods of time. Then it must be shown that the signals from this population of neurons can, under voluntary control, reliably control an electromechanical device. During the current contract period, it has been demonstrated that a rat can modulate neural activity in its motor cortex to control a mechanical arm to retrieve a food reward. Efforts are underway to duplicate these results in animals with a gyrencephalic brain, but thus far, chronic recording has been difficult to achieve in larger brained animals. The focus of this research will be on the development of chronic microelectrode recording techniques in a primate with a gyrencephalic brain. There will also be research on extracting control signals from the recorded neural activity.