Brain-machine interfaces: an overview

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikhail Lebedev
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Development ◽  
Assistive Devices ◽  
Normal Brain ◽  
Brain Machine Interfaces ◽  
Neural Recordings ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Intact Brain ◽  
Brain Circuitry ◽  
Multichannel Recordings ◽  
Higher Brain Functions

AbstractBrain-machine interfaces (BMIs) hold promise to treat neurological disabilities by linking intact brain circuitry to assistive devices, such as limb prostheses, wheelchairs, artificial sensors, and computers. BMIs have experienced very rapid development in recent years, facilitated by advances in neural recordings, computer technologies and robots. BMIs are commonly classified into three types: sensory, motor and bidirectional, which subserve motor, sensory and sensorimotor functions, respectively. Additionally, cognitive BMIs have emerged in the domain of higher brain functions. BMIs are also classified as noninvasive or invasive according to the degree of their interference with the biological tissue. Although noninvasive BMIs are safe and easy to implement, their information bandwidth is limited. Invasive BMIs hold promise to improve the bandwidth by utilizing multichannel recordings from ensembles of brain neurons. BMIs have a broad range of clinical goals, as well as the goal to enhance normal brain functions.

scholarly journals Emergence Of Consciousness And Qualia From A Complex Brain

Folia Medica ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 289-296
Author(s):  
Jakob Korf
Keyword(s):  
System Theory ◽  
General System ◽  
Resolution Power ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Scientific Exploration ◽  
Brain Changes ◽  
Higher Brain Functions ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Qualia are private conscious experiences of which the associated feelings can be reported to other people. Whether qualia are amenable to scientific exploration has often been questioned, which is challenged by the present article. The following arguments are given: 1. the configuration of the brain changes continuously and irreversibly, because of genetic and environmental influences and interhuman communication; 2. qualia and consciousness are processes, rather than states; 3. private feelings, including those associated with qualia, should be positioned in the context of a personal brain as being developed during life; 4. consciousness and qualia should be understood in the context of general system theory, thus concluding that isolated, in vitro, properties of neurons and other brain constituents might marginally contribute to the understanding of higher brain functions, mind or qualia; 5. current in vivo approaches have too little resolution power - in terms of space and time - to delineate individual and subjective brain processes. When subtle personalized properties of the nervous system can be assessed in vivo or in vitro, qualia can scientifically be investigated. We discuss some approaches to overcome these barriers.

scholarly journals The Gliocentric Brain

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 3033 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
Memory Storage ◽  
Neural Cells ◽  
Strict Adherence ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Mechanisms Of Memory ◽  
Higher Brain Functions ◽  
Abnormal Brain

The Neuron Doctrine, the cornerstone of research on normal and abnormal brain functions for over a century, has failed to discern the basis of complex cognitive functions. The location and mechanisms of memory storage and recall, consciousness, and learning, remain enigmatic. The purpose of this article is to critically review the Neuron Doctrine in light of empirical data over the past three decades. Similarly, the central role of the synapse and associated neural networks, as well as ancillary hypotheses, such as gamma synchrony and cortical minicolumns, are critically examined. It is concluded that each is fundamentally flawed and that, over the past three decades, the study of non-neuronal cells, particularly astrocytes, has shown that virtually all functions ascribed to neurons are largely the result of direct or indirect actions of glia continuously interacting with neurons and neural networks. Recognition of non-neural cells in higher brain functions is extremely important. The strict adherence of purely neurocentric ideas, deeply ingrained in the great majority of neuroscientists, remains a detriment to understanding normal and abnormal brain functions. By broadening brain information processing beyond neurons, progress in understanding higher level brain functions, as well as neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders, will progress beyond the impasse that has been evident for decades.

scholarly journals Cognitive profile and disorders affecting higher brain functions in paediatric patients with neurofibromatosis type 1

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 353-359
Author(s):  
E. Vaucheret Paz ◽  
A. López Ballent ◽  
C. Puga ◽  
M.J. García Basalo ◽  
F. Baliarda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neurofibromatosis Type 1 ◽  
Neurofibromatosis Type ◽  
Cognitive Profile ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Paediatric Patients ◽  
Higher Brain Functions

Higher Brain Functions

2008 ◽  
pp. 651-666
Author(s):  
Rachel Casas ◽  
Daniel Tranel
Keyword(s):  
Brain Functions ◽  
Higher Brain Functions

scholarly journals High-frequency oscillations and the neurobiology of schizophrenia

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-313 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Oscillatory Activity ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Neural Oscillations ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Normal Brain ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

Neural oscillations at low- and high-frequency ranges are a fundamental feature of large-scale networks. Recent evidence has indicated that schizophrenia is associated with abnormal amplitude and synchrony of oscillatory activity, in particular, at high (beta/gamma) frequencies. These abnormalities are observed during task-related and spontaneous neuronal activity which may be important for understanding the pathophysiology of the syndrome. In this paper, we shall review the current evidence for impaired beta/gamma-band oscillations and their involvement in cognitive functions and certain symptoms of the disorder. In the first part, we will provide an update on neural oscillations during normal brain functions and discuss underlying mechanisms. This will be followed by a review of studies that have examined high-frequency oscillatory activity in schizophrenia and discuss evidence that relates abnormalities of oscillatory activity to disturbed excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) balance. Finally, we shall identify critical issues for future research in this area.

scholarly journals ApoE4 attenuates cortical neuronal activity and impairs memory in young apoE4 rats

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilona Har-Paz ◽  
Elor Arieli ◽  
Anan Moran
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Risk Factor ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Genetic Risk ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Late Onset ◽  
Genetic Risk Factor ◽  
Normal Brain ◽  
Brain Functions

AbstractThe E4 allele of apolipoprotein E (apoE4) is the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, apoE4 may cause innate brain abnormalities before the appearance of AD related neuropathology. Understanding these primary dysfunctions is vital for early detection of AD and the development of therapeutic strategies for it. Recently we have shown impaired extra-hippocampal memory in young apoE4 mice – a deficit that was correlated with attenuated structural pre-synaptic plasticity in cortical and subcortical regions. Here we test the hypothesis that these early structural deficits impact learning via changes in basal and stimuli evoked neuronal activity. We recorded extracellular neuronal activity from the gustatory cortex (GC) of three-month-old humanized apoE4 and wildtype rats, before and after conditioned taste aversion (CTA) training. Despite normal sucrose drinking behavior before CTA, young apoE4 rats showed impaired CTA learning, consistent with our previous results in apoE4 mice. This behavioral deficit was correlated with decreased basal and taste-evoked firing rates in both putative excitatory and inhibitory GC neurons. Single neuron and ensemble analyses of taste coding demonstrated that apoE4 neurons could be used to correctly classify tastes, but were unable to undergo plasticity to support learning. Our results suggest that apoE4 impacts brain excitability and plasticity early in life and may act as an initiator for later AD pathologies.Significant statementThe ApoE4 allele is the strongest genetic risk-factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD), yet the link between apoE4 and AD is still unclear. Recent molecular and in-vitro studies suggest that apoE4 interferes with normal brain functions decades before the development of its related AD neuropathology. Here we recorded the activity of cortical neurons from young apoE4 rats during extra-hippocampal learning to study early apoE4 neuronal activity abnormalities, and their effects over coding capacities. We show that apoE4 drastically reduces basal and stimuli-evoked cortical activity in both excitatory and inhibitory neurons. The apoE4-induced activity attenuation did not prevent coding of stimuli identity and valence, but impaired capacity to undergo activity changes to support learning. Our findings support the hypothesis that apoE4 interfere with normal neuronal plasticity early in life; a deficit that may lead to late-onset AD development.

scholarly journals The necessity of studying higher brain functions from a first-person frame of reference

F1000Research ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 173
Author(s):  
Kunjumon I. Vadakkan
Keyword(s):  
Gold Standard ◽  
Frame Of Reference ◽  
First Person ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Experimental Approaches ◽  
Engineered Systems ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Higher Brain Functions

Almost all higher brain functions are first-person properties and anyone seeking to study them faces significant difficulties. Since a third-person experimenter cannot access first-person properties, current investigations are limited to examining the latter by using third-person observations that are carried out at various levels. This limits the current studies to correlational experiments using third-person observed findings. In order to initiate a study of explanations for the first-person properties, experimental approaches should be undertaken from the first-person frame of reference. But, there is a huge barrier. I discuss my opinion for crossing this barrier using a three-stage approach – theoretical, computational and experimental – in that order. These stages will naturally lead to the gold standard of understanding the mechanism by replicating it in engineered systems. The hurdles and incentives of undertaking this approach are discussed.

scholarly journals A time-stamp mechanism may provide temporal information necessary for egocentric to allocentric spatial transformations

eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avner Wallach ◽  
Erik Harvey-Girard ◽  
James Jaeyoon Jun ◽  
André Longtin ◽  
Len Maler
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Learning ◽  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Spatial Relations ◽  
Temporal Information ◽  
Accurate Estimation ◽  
Neural Recordings ◽  
Brain Circuitry ◽  
Learning Circuits ◽  
Thalamic Region

Learning the spatial organization of the environment is essential for most animals’ survival. This requires the animal to derive allocentric spatial information from egocentric sensory and motor experience. The neural mechanisms underlying this transformation are mostly unknown. We addressed this problem in electric fish, which can precisely navigate in complete darkness and whose brain circuitry is relatively simple. We conducted the first neural recordings in the preglomerular complex, the thalamic region exclusively connecting the optic tectum with the spatial learning circuits in the dorsolateral pallium. While tectal topographic information was mostly eliminated in preglomerular neurons, the time-intervals between object encounters were precisely encoded. We show that this reliable temporal information, combined with a speed signal, can permit accurate estimation of the distance between encounters, a necessary component of path-integration that enables computing allocentric spatial relations. Our results suggest that similar mechanisms are involved in sequential spatial learning in all vertebrates.

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