Full head optical topography system

光学脑机接口作为严重运动障碍患者的非侵入性接入方式具有重要的前景。当大脑某个区域的神经元放电增加时，对氧气的需求就会增加。这转化为局部血流的变化，从而改变了氧合和脱氧血红蛋白分子的浓度。神经活动和局部血流之间的这种联系被称为神经血管耦合。当特定波长的光被引入到头部表面时，一些光被氧合血红蛋白和脱氧血红蛋白吸收，一些光返回到表面。返回的光可以用光电倍增管测量。由于神经血管耦合，我们可以利用光来推断大脑局部区域的神经活动水平。近年来，我们的实验室开创了许多光学脑机接口，展示了解码饮酒偏好、选定的情绪状态、心算和音乐意象（在脑海中唱歌）的能力。 最近，我们已经证明了区分精神活动和不受约束的自然休息状态的能力。然而，我们的研究目前仅限于前额叶皮层的研究，因为我们的仪器无法在头发上成像，长时间佩戴不舒服，并且通道数量有限。在本申请中，我们要求一种全头部光学脑成像系统，该系统是迫切需要的，以推进我们在至少3个关键方面的研究：（1）扩展可接受的精神活动的集合，（2）改进脑活动的分类，以及（3）开发结合联合收割机多种脑测量模态和/或外周神经系统信号的身体-机器接口。所要求的设备将在直接来自申请人实验室的至少10名研究生和本科生的培训中发挥重要作用，并且至少还有少数来自密切合作者实验室的学生，他们与申请人的团队共同撰写了关于脑机接口的论文。

Optical brain-computer interfaces hold significant promise as a non-invasive access modality for individuals with severe motor impairments. When there is increased neuronal firing in a region of the brain, the demand for oxygen increases. This translates into a change in regional blood flow and hence the concentrations of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin molecules. This link between neural activity and regional blood flow is known as neurovascular coupling. When light at specific wavelengths is introduced to the surface of the head, some of the light is absorbed by oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin and some returns to the surface. The returning light can be measured with a photomultiplier. Due to neurovascular coupling, we can thus use light to infer the level of neural activity in a localized region of the brain. Our lab has pioneered numerous optical brain-computer interfaces in recent years, demonstrating the ability to decode drink preference, selected emotional states, mental arithmetic, and music imagery (singing a song in your head). Most recently, we have demonstrated the ability to differentiate mental activity from an unconstrained natural resting state. However, our research is limited to the study of the prefrontal cortex at present because our instrumentation cannot image over hair, is not comfortable for extended wear and has a limited number of channels. In this application, we are requesting a full-head optical brain imaging system which is critically needed to advance our research on at least 3 key fronts: (1) expanding the set of admissible mental activities, (2) improving the classification of brain activity, and (3) developing body-machine interfaces that combine multiple brain measurement modalities and/or peripheral nervous system signals. The requested equipment will feature prominently in the training of at least 10 graduate and undergraduate students directly from the applicant's lab, and at least another handful of students from the labs of close collaborators who have co-authored papers with the applicant's team on the topic of brain-computer interfacing.