Instant neural control of a movement signal

摘要

The activity of motor cortex (MI) neu-rons conveys movement intent sufficiently well to be used as a control signal to operate artificial devices, but until now this has called for extensive training or has been confined to a limited movement repertoire. Here we show how activity from a few (7-30) MI neurons can be decoded into a signal that a monkey is able to use immediately to move a computer cursor to any new position in its workspace (14° x 14° visual angle). Our results, which are based on recordings made by an electrode array that is suitable for human use, indicate that neurally based control of movement may eventually be feasible in paralysed humans. We recorded the activity of MI neurons in three Macaca mulatta monkeys that had been implanted with a Utah intracortical multi-electrode array. Monkeys used one hand to move a manipulandum that controlled the position of a cursor displayed on a video monitor. Using this position-feedback signal, monkeys tracked a continuously moving visual target that began at an arbitrary location and followed a pseudo-random trajectory.