Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, United States; Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, United States; Stanford Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
Vikash Gilja
Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, United States; Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, United States; School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, United States
Christine H Blabe
Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, United States; Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, United States; Stanford Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, United States; Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology, Rehabilitation R and D Service, Department of VA Medical Center, Providence, United States; Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States; Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, United States
Brittany L Sorice
Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States
Emad N Eskandar
Department of Neurosurgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States; Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States
Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology, Rehabilitation R and D Service, Department of VA Medical Center, Providence, United States; School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, United States; Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States; Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, United States; Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, United States; Stanford Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, United States; Stanford Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, United States; Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University, Stanford, United States; Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, United States; Neurosciences Program, Stanford, United States
The prevailing view of motor cortex holds that motor cortical neural activity represents muscle or movement parameters. However, recent studies in non-human primates have shown that neural activity does not simply represent muscle or movement parameters; instead, its temporal structure is well-described by a dynamical system where activity during movement evolves lawfully from an initial pre-movement state. In this study, we analyze neuronal ensemble activity in motor cortex in two clinical trial participants diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). We find that activity in human motor cortex has similar dynamical structure to that of non-human primates, indicating that human motor cortex contains a similar underlying dynamical system for movement generation. Clinical trial registration: NCT00912041.
