A parallel point-process filter for estimation of goal-directed movements from neural signals

Brain machine interfaces work by mapping the relevant neural activity to the intended movement known as 'decoding'. Here, we develop a recursive Bayesian decoder for goal-directed movements from neural observations, which exploits the optimal feedback control model of the sensorimotor syst...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Modir Shanechi, Maryam, Wornell, Gregory W., Williams, Ziv, Brown, Emery N.
Other Authors: Harvard University--MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 2012
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/70535
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2668-7819
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9166-4758
Description
Summary:Brain machine interfaces work by mapping the relevant neural activity to the intended movement known as 'decoding'. Here, we develop a recursive Bayesian decoder for goal-directed movements from neural observations, which exploits the optimal feedback control model of the sensorimotor system to build better prior state-space models. These controlled state models depend on the movement duration that is not known a priori. We thus consider a discretization of the task duration and develop a decoder consisting of a bank of parallel point-process filters, each combining the neural observation with the controlled state model of a discretization point. The final reconstruction is made by optimally combining these filter estimates. Using very coarse discretization and hence only a few parallel branches, our decoder reduces the root mean square (RMS) error in trajectory reconstruction in reaches made by a rhesus monkey by approximately 40%.