02285nas a2200253   4500008004100000022001400041245007600055210006900131260001200200300001400212490000800226520146600234653001001700653002901710653001301739653001101752653002101763653002201784653004401806100002001850700002401870700002201894856011501916       2023                        eng d  a1432-110600aEffects of active and sham tDCS on the soleus H-reflex during standing.0 aEffects of active and sham tDCS on the soleus Hreflex during sta  c06/2023  a1611-16220 v2413 a<p>Weak transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is known to affect corticospinal excitability and enhance motor skill acquisition, whereas its effects on spinal reflexes in actively contracting muscles are yet to be established. Thus, in this study, we examined the acute effects of Active and Sham tDCS on the soleus H-reflex during standing. In fourteen adults without known neurological conditions, the soleus H-reflex was repeatedly elicited at just above M-wave threshold throughout 30 min of Active (N = 7) or Sham (N = 7) 2-mA tDCS over the primary motor cortex in standing. The maximum H-reflex (H) and M-wave (M) were also measured before and immediately after 30 min of tDCS. The soleus H-reflex amplitudes became significantly larger (by 6%) ≈1 min into Active or Sham tDCS and gradually returned toward the pre-tDCS values, on average, within 15 min. With Active tDCS, the amplitude reduction from the initial increase appeared to occur more swiftly than with Sham tDCS. An acute temporary increase in the soleus H-reflex amplitude within the first minute of Active and Sham tDCS found in this study indicates a previously unreported effect of tDCS on the H-reflex excitability. The present study suggests that neurophysiological characterization of Sham tDCS effects is just as important as investigating Active tDCS effects in understanding and defining acute effects of tDCS on the excitability of spinal reflex pathways.</p>10aAdult10aEvoked Potentials, Motor10aH-Reflex10aHumans10aMuscle, Skeletal10aStanding Position10aTranscranial Direct Current Stimulation1 aMcCane, Lynn, M1 aWolpaw, Jonathan, R1 aThompson, Aiko, K  uhttps://www.neurotechcenter.org/publications/2023/effects-active-and-sham-tdcs-soleus-h-reflex-during-standing02579nas a2200289   4500008004100000022001400041245014200055210006900197260001200266300001400278490000800292520157400300653003401874653003001908653002701938653001101965653002201976653001101998100002802009700001602037700002502053700002102078700002102099700002402120700002402144856012102168       2023                        eng d  a1432-145900aTowards clinical application of implantable brain-computer interfaces for people with late-stage ALS: medical and ethical considerations.0 aTowards clinical application of implantable braincomputer interf  c03/2023  a1323-13360 v2703 a<p>Individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) frequently develop speech and communication problems in the course of their disease. Currently available augmentative and alternative communication technologies do not present a solution for many people with advanced ALS, because these devices depend on residual and reliable motor activity. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) use neural signals for computer control and may allow people with late-stage ALS to communicate even when conventional technology falls short. Recent years have witnessed fast progression in the development and validation of implanted BCIs, which place neural signal recording electrodes in or on the cortex. Eventual widespread clinical application of implanted BCIs as an assistive communication technology for people with ALS will have significant consequences for their daily life, as well as for the clinical management of the disease, among others because of the potential interaction between the BCI and other procedures people with ALS undergo, such as tracheostomy. This article aims to facilitate responsible real-world implementation of implanted BCIs. We review the state of the art of research on implanted BCIs for communication, as well as the medical and ethical implications of the clinical application of this technology. We conclude that the contribution of all BCI stakeholders, including clinicians of the various ALS-related disciplines, will be needed to develop procedures for, and shape the process of, the responsible clinical application of implanted BCIs.</p>10aAmyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis10abrain-computer interfaces10aElectroencephalography10aHumans10aSelf-Help Devices10aSpeech1 aVansteensel, Mariska, J1 aKlein, Eran1 avan Thiel, Ghislaine1 aGaytant, Michael1 aSimmons, Zachary1 aWolpaw, Jonathan, R1 aVaughan, Theresa, M  uhttps://www.neurotechcenter.org/publications/2023/towards-clinical-application-implantable-brain-computer-interfaces03130nas a2200313   4500008004100000022001400041245013900055210006900194260001500263520206900278653002002347653002602367653002102393653002202414653001302436653001102449653002702460653002502487100001702512700001702529700001902546700002402565700002302589700002102612700001402633700002402647700002202671856012302693       2022                        eng d  a1940-087X00aThe Evoked Potential Operant Conditioning System (EPOCS): A Research Tool and an Emerging Therapy for Chronic Neuromuscular Disorders.0 aEvoked Potential Operant Conditioning System EPOCS A Research To  c2022 08 253 a<p>The Evoked Potential Operant Conditioning System (EPOCS) is a software tool that implements protocols for operantly conditioning stimulus-triggered muscle responses in people with neuromuscular disorders, which in turn can improve sensorimotor function when applied appropriately. EPOCS monitors the state of specific target muscles-e.g., from surface electromyography (EMG) while standing, or from gait cycle measurements while walking on a treadmill-and automatically triggers calibrated stimulation when pre-defined conditions are met. It provides two forms of feedback that enable a person to learn to modulate the targeted pathway's excitability. First, it continuously monitors ongoing EMG activity in the target muscle, guiding the person to produce a consistent level of activity suitable for conditioning. Second, it provides immediate feedback of the response size following each stimulation and indicates whether it has reached the target value. To illustrate its use, this article describes a protocol through which a person can learn to decrease the size of the Hoffmann reflex-the electrically-elicited analog of the spinal stretch reflex-in the soleus muscle. Down-conditioning this pathway's excitability can improve walking in people with spastic gait due to incomplete spinal cord injury. The article demonstrates how to set up the equipment; how to place stimulating and recording electrodes; and how to use the free software to optimize electrode placement, measure the recruitment curve of direct motor and reflex responses, measure the response without operant conditioning, condition the reflex, and analyze the resulting data. It illustrates how the reflex changes over multiple sessions and how walking improves. It also discusses how the system can be applied to other kinds of evoked responses and to other kinds of stimulation, e.g., motor evoked potentials to transcranial magnetic stimulation; how it can address various clinical problems; and how it can support research studies of sensorimotor function in health and disease.</p>10aChronic Disease10aConditioning, Operant10aElectromyography10aEvoked Potentials10aH-Reflex10aHumans10aNeuromuscular Diseases10aSpinal Cord Injuries1 aHill, Jeremy1 aGupta, Disha1 aEftekhar, Amir1 aBrangaccio, Jodi, A1 aNorton, James, J S1 aMcLeod, Michelle1 aFake, Tim1 aWolpaw, Jonathan, R1 aThompson, Aiko, K  uhttps://www.neurotechcenter.org/publications/2022/evoked-potential-operant-conditioning-system-epocs-research-tool-and02437nas a2200241   4500008004100000022001400041245007500055210006900130260001200199300001400211490000800225520167700233653003001910653001201940653002701952653001101979653002401990653001302014653001302027100002402040700001802064856011302082       2022                        eng d  a1469-779300aHeksor: the central nervous system substrate of an adaptive behaviour.0 aHeksor the central nervous system substrate of an adaptive behav  c08/2022  a3423-34520 v6003 a<p>Over the past half-century, the largely hardwired central nervous system (CNS) of 1970 has become the ubiquitously plastic CNS of today, in which change is the rule not the exception. This transformation complicates a central question in neuroscience: how are adaptive behaviours - behaviours that serve the needs of the individual - acquired and maintained through life? It poses a more basic question: how do many adaptive behaviours share the ubiquitously plastic CNS? This question compels neuroscience to adopt a new paradigm. The core of this paradigm is a CNS entity with unique properties, here given the name heksor from the Greek hexis. A heksor is a distributed network of neurons and synapses that changes itself as needed to maintain the key features of an adaptive behaviour, the features that make the behaviour satisfactory. Through their concurrent changes, the numerous heksors that share the CNS negotiate the properties of the neurons and synapses that they all use. Heksors keep the CNS in a state of negotiated equilibrium that enables each heksor to maintain the key features of its behaviour. The new paradigm based on heksors and the negotiated equilibrium they create is supported by animal and human studies of interactions among new and old adaptive behaviours, explains otherwise inexplicable results, and underlies promising new approaches to restoring behaviours impaired by injury or disease. Furthermore, the paradigm offers new and potentially important answers to extant questions, such as the generation and function of spontaneous neuronal activity, the aetiology of muscle synergies, and the control of homeostatic plasticity.</p>10aAdaptation, Psychological10aAnimals10acentral nervous system10aHumans10aNeuronal Plasticity10aPlastics10aSynapses1 aWolpaw, Jonathan, R1 aKamesar, Adam  uhttps://www.neurotechcenter.org/publications/2022/heksor-central-nervous-system-substrate-adaptive-behaviour01696nas a2200289   4500008004100000022001400041245006300055210006000118260001600178490000700194520079100201653003000992653001701022653002701039653003001066653001101096653001001107653002301117653002001140100002301160700002201183700002201205700002201227700002401249700002401273856010901297       2021                        eng d  a1741-255200aBrain-computer interface-based assessment of color vision.0 aBraincomputer interfacebased assessment of color vision  c2021 Nov 260 v183 a<p>Present methods for assessing color vision require the person's active participation. Here we describe a brain-computer interface-based method for assessing color vision that does not require the person's participation.This method uses steady-state visual evoked potentials to identify metamers-two light sources that have different spectral distributions but appear to the person to be the same color.We demonstrate that: minimization of the visual evoked potential elicited by two flickering light sources identifies the metamer; this approach can distinguish people with color-vision deficits from those with normal color vision; and this metamer-identification process can be automated.This new method has numerous potential clinical, scientific, and industrial applications.</p>10abrain-computer interfaces10aColor Vision10aElectroencephalography10aEvoked Potentials, Visual10aHumans10aLight10aPhotic Stimulation10aResearch Design1 aNorton, James, J S1 aDiRisio, Grace, F1 aCarp, Jonathan, S1 aNorton, Amanda, E1 aKochan, Nicholas, S1 aWolpaw, Jonathan, R  uhttps://www.neurotechcenter.org/publications/2021/brain-computer-interface-based-assessment-color-vision02570nas a2200325   4500008004100000022001400041245013800055210006900193260001200262300001100274490000800285520150800293653002601801653002601827653001601853653001301869653001101882653003101893100002001924700002301944700002001967700002001987700001802007700002302025700001902048700001902067700002402086700001902110856011502129       2020                        eng d  a1873-423500aBreathable, large-area epidermal electronic systems for recording electromyographic activity during operant conditioning of H-reflex.0 aBreathable largearea epidermal electronic systems for recording   c10/2020  a1124040 v1653 a<p>Operant conditioning of Hoffmann's reflex (H-reflex) is a non-invasive and targeted therapeutic intervention for patients with movement disorders following spinal cord injury. The reflex-conditioning protocol uses electromyography (EMG) to measure reflexes from specific muscles elicited using transcutaneous electrical stimulation. Despite recent advances in wearable electronics, existing EMG systems that measure muscle activity for operant conditioning of spinal reflexes still use rigid metal electrodes with conductive gels and aggressive adhesives, while requiring precise positioning to ensure reliability of data across experimental sessions. Here, we present the first large-area epidermal electronic system (L-EES) and demonstrate its use in every step of the reflex-conditioning protocol. The L-EES is a stretchable and breathable composite of nanomembrane electrodes (16 electrodes in a four by four array), elastomer, and fabric. The nanomembrane electrode array enables EMG recording from a large surface area on the skin and the breathable elastomer with fabric is biocompatible and comfortable for patients. We show that L-EES can record direct muscle responses (M-waves) and H-reflexes, both of which are comparable to those recorded using conventional EMG recording systems. In addition, L-EES may improve the reflex-conditioning protocol; it has potential to automatically optimize EMG electrode positioning, which may reduce setup time and error across experimental sessions.</p>10aBiosensing Techniques10aConditioning, Operant10aElectronics10aH-Reflex10aHumans10aReproducibility of Results1 aKwon, Young-Tae1 aNorton, James, J S1 aCutrone, Andrew1 aLim, Hyo-Ryoung1 aKwon, Shinjae1 aChoi, Jeongmoon, J1 aKim, Hee, Seok1 aJang, Young, C1 aWolpaw, Jonathan, R1 aYeo, Woon-Hong  uhttps://www.neurotechcenter.org/publications/2020/breathable-large-area-epidermal-electronic-systems-recording