Neural Adaptation and the Effect of Interelectrode Spacing on Epidural Electrocorticography for Brain-Computer Interfaces

Electrocorticography: ECoG) is increasingly being identified as a safe and reliable recording technique for both Brain-Computer Interface: BCI) applications as well as neurophysiology studies. This thesis describes some of the first real-time closed-loop BCI studies of chronic ECoG in non-human primates. Epidural microECoG electrodes developed in our lab were implanted in three monkeys with the electrode array centered over primary motor cortex: M1). Monkeys were then trained to perform a one-dimensional BCI task. The BCI control scheme was independent of any prior screening for task-related activity. All three monkeys successfully learned to perform the task with multiple control configurations and each time gained significant performance in 10 days or less. Interelectrode distance between control electrodes was also tested for three different distances. 15 and 9 mm spacing resulted in equivalent performance while 3 mm saw a moderate but significant degradation in performance. Finally, post hoc analysis was performed to analyze various decoding parameters. While decoding parameters were generally well matched to the observed signals, several potential decoding improvements were identified. Overall, these results demonstrate the feasibility of epidural ECoG BCIs, highlight the importance of neural adaptation for BCI control, and quantify various metrics of a current ECoG BCI system to drive further studies.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biomedical Engineering

Year dc:date.available

2012

Author dc:creator

• Rouse, Adam

Contributors dc:contributor

• Daniel Moran

• Biomedical engineering
• Neurosciences
• Brain-computer interface
• Dorsal premotor cortex
• Electrocorticography
• Neural plasticity
• Primary motor cortex

Language dc:language

English (en)

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7936/K7D21VMF

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:openscholarship.wustl.edu:etd-1724