A Direct Visual and Motor Neural Interface Demonstration in a Rat

Developments of the past decades have shown it is possible to decode and extract control signals directly from the brain for use in neuromotor prosthetics. Currently, there is a push towards developing closed loop interface systems. Here we describe our early results in a rat model of a sensory/motor neurophysiological feedback control system. Traditional operant conditioning techniques historically train an animal to increase or decrease the occurrence of a behavior in response to a stimulus using various types of reinforcement. Here we demonstrate a rat performing an operant conditioning task with the modification that the rat´s behavioral output and stimulus input are accessed via direct electrical connections with the brain. Our preliminary results here show a rat successfully trained to modulate the firing rates of its motor cortex in response to intra-cortical microstimulation of the visual cortex.