A non-invasive brain-machine interface via independent control of individual motor units [article]

Emanuele Formento, Paul Botros, Jose Carmena
2021 bioRxiv   pre-print
Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) have the potential to restore independence in people with disabilities, yet a compromise between non-invasiveness and performance limits their translational relevance. Here, we demonstrate a high-performance BMI controlled by individual motor units non-invasively recorded from the biceps brachii. Through real-time auditory and visual neurofeedback of motor unit activity, 8 participants learned to skillfully and independently control three motor units in order to
more » ... omplete a two-dimensional center-out task, with marked improvements in control over 6 days of training. Concomitantly, dimensionality of the motor unit population increased significantly relative to naturalistic behaviors, largely violating recruitment orders displayed during stereotyped, isometric muscle contractions. Finally, participants' performance on a spelling task demonstrated translational potential of a motor unit BMI, exceeding performance across existing non-invasive BMIs. These results demonstrate a yet-unexplored level of flexibility of the peripheral sensorimotor system and show that this can be exploited to create novel non-invasive, high-performance BMIs.
doi:10.1101/2021.03.22.436518 fatcat:te6a45x52rdhngfdlq27yhlzre