NEC Seminar: Friday, Feb 10, 9:00 AM
Speaker: Meron Abate
Research Advisor: Prof. Ajiboye
Abstract- Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) have the potential to restore intuitive sensory and motor functionality to persons with tetraplegia due to spinal cord injuries (SCIs). Restoration of hand and arm function has consistently been ranked the highest priority among those with tetraplegia. A significant amount of research has been done on kinematic (position and velocity) control but research on kinetic (force- related) control is limited. However accurate modulation of grasp force is necessary for object interaction to maximize the functionality of restored movement. Previous studies have shown the presence of kinetic information in the cortex and the possibility of using this information for decoding of intended grasp force level. However, these studies also demonstrated that using only visual feedback led to low decoding accuracy of grasp force from cortical activity. In addition, it has also been shown that the neural representation of force in the cortex during force-matching tasks without sensory feedback was lower than expected. This was demonstrated through a decreased volume of cortical activation and low differentiability of population activation patterns. These issues with insufficient grasp-force control could be due to a lack of somatosensory feedback because of the significant role of somatosensation in fine control of grasping forces. Furthermore, task-relevant somatosensory feedback has been shown to increase the neural representation of stimuli and lead to better decoding accuracy. Task-relevant somatosensory feedback can be provided through intact somatosensation for those with incomplete SCI while intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) of the somatosensory cortex can be used to provide tactile feedback for those without intact sensation. In this project, we explore the effect of the inclusion of somatosensory feedback through intact somatosensation and ICMS on the performance of grasp force control and the neural representation associated with it. Aside from an increase in understanding of the effects of somatosensory feedback on motor control, the improvement in grasp force control performance and an increase in the neural representation of force can lead to better BMI control of the upper limbs.
Meeting ID: 928 0482 8495 Passcode: 185518