Development of intracranial brain-computer interface system using non-motor brain area for series of motor functions

An intracranial brain-computer interface (BCI) system using the neuronal activity of a non-motor brain area to fulfil a series of motor functions has been developed. The presented BCI system encodes a series of motor functions into a small number of neuronal units of the primary somatosensory cortex of a rat and generates real-time command signals to control a machine according to the animal´s motor intentions. The results of this study demonstrate the practical usability of the BCI system using a non-motor brain area in the field of rehabilitation.