Stability of motor representations after paralysis
Neural plasticity allows us to learn skills and incorporate new experiences. What happens when our lived experiences fundamentally change, such as after a severe injury? To address this question, we analyzed intracortical population activity in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) of a tetraplegic ad...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2022-09-01
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| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/74478 |
| _version_ | 1811239590195888128 |
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| author | Charles Guan Tyson Aflalo Carey Y Zhang Elena Amoruso Emily R Rosario Nader Pouratian Richard A Andersen |
| author_facet | Charles Guan Tyson Aflalo Carey Y Zhang Elena Amoruso Emily R Rosario Nader Pouratian Richard A Andersen |
| author_sort | Charles Guan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Neural plasticity allows us to learn skills and incorporate new experiences. What happens when our lived experiences fundamentally change, such as after a severe injury? To address this question, we analyzed intracortical population activity in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) of a tetraplegic adult as she controlled a virtual hand through a brain–computer interface (BCI). By attempting to move her fingers, she could accurately drive the corresponding virtual fingers. Neural activity during finger movements exhibited robust representational structure similar to fMRI recordings of able-bodied individuals’ motor cortex, which is known to reflect able-bodied usage patterns. The finger representational structure was consistent throughout multiple sessions, even though the structure contributed to BCI decoding errors. Within individual BCI movements, the representational structure was dynamic, first resembling muscle activation patterns and then resembling the anticipated sensory consequences. Our results reveal that motor representations in PPC reflect able-bodied motor usage patterns even after paralysis, and BCIs can re-engage these stable representations to restore lost motor functions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T13:03:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-82f100993e3540ea890af5112b2586f4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T13:03:39Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-82f100993e3540ea890af5112b2586f42022-12-22T03:32:06ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2022-09-011110.7554/eLife.74478Stability of motor representations after paralysisCharles Guan0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8040-8844Tyson Aflalo1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0101-2455Carey Y Zhang2Elena Amoruso3Emily R Rosario4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1540-197XNader Pouratian5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0426-3241Richard A Andersen6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7947-0472California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United StatesCalifornia Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States; T&C Chen Brain-Machine Interface Center at Caltech, Pasadena, United StatesCalifornia Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United StatesInstitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United KingdomCasa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare, Pomona, United StatesUT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United StatesCalifornia Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States; T&C Chen Brain-Machine Interface Center at Caltech, Pasadena, United StatesNeural plasticity allows us to learn skills and incorporate new experiences. What happens when our lived experiences fundamentally change, such as after a severe injury? To address this question, we analyzed intracortical population activity in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) of a tetraplegic adult as she controlled a virtual hand through a brain–computer interface (BCI). By attempting to move her fingers, she could accurately drive the corresponding virtual fingers. Neural activity during finger movements exhibited robust representational structure similar to fMRI recordings of able-bodied individuals’ motor cortex, which is known to reflect able-bodied usage patterns. The finger representational structure was consistent throughout multiple sessions, even though the structure contributed to BCI decoding errors. Within individual BCI movements, the representational structure was dynamic, first resembling muscle activation patterns and then resembling the anticipated sensory consequences. Our results reveal that motor representations in PPC reflect able-bodied motor usage patterns even after paralysis, and BCIs can re-engage these stable representations to restore lost motor functions.https://elifesciences.org/articles/74478brain–computer interfaceposterior parietal cortexplasticityparalysishandfingers |
| spellingShingle | Charles Guan Tyson Aflalo Carey Y Zhang Elena Amoruso Emily R Rosario Nader Pouratian Richard A Andersen Stability of motor representations after paralysis eLife brain–computer interface posterior parietal cortex plasticity paralysis hand fingers |
| title | Stability of motor representations after paralysis |
| title_full | Stability of motor representations after paralysis |
| title_fullStr | Stability of motor representations after paralysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Stability of motor representations after paralysis |
| title_short | Stability of motor representations after paralysis |
| title_sort | stability of motor representations after paralysis |
| topic | brain–computer interface posterior parietal cortex plasticity paralysis hand fingers |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/74478 |
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