Researchers at the University of California's Computational Neuroscience department have developed a technology that for the first time allows physicians and scientists to non-invasively isolate and quantify brain electrical activity in people on the move.
This technology is a key component of a brain computer interface that will allow a robotic exoskeleton controlled by the patient's mind to move the limbs of patients, says Daniel Ferris, a professor at the University of Michigan's School of Kinesiology and author of a paper describing the study.
"Of course it will not happen right away but one step up to a situation where it might be done is the ability to record brain waves when someone is moving," said Joe Gwin who is the first author of the paper and a graduate of doctoral student at the School of Kinesiologydan Engineering Mechanics Section.
With this technology, scientists can show which parts of the brain are activated and precisely when those parts are activated when subjects move in a natural environment. For example, when we walk, signals coming from certain parts of the brain that act as messages will be sent from the brain to the muscles. If scientists know where a brain impulse occurs, they can use that location information to develop applications. Previously scientists could only measure brain electrical activity in immobile patients.
Ferris likens the isolation of these brain electrical activities such as placing a microphone in the middle of a symphony to distinguish only certain instruments in certain areas, such as the obo in the first seat, or the violin. Appropriate in an orchestra, there are many sources of sound in the brain that generate excessive electrical activity, or noise. Even the electrode itself generates noise or noise as it moves in connection with its source.
The researchers identified brain activity to be measured by attaching multiple sensors to the currently running subjects or running on a treadmill. Then they use magnetic resonance imaging at the head to know from which part of the brain the electrical activity is coming from. In this way, scientists can localize the sources of brain activity that want to be known and ignore other activities if not coming from the brain.
Ferris, who also has a position in biomedical engineering, says there is a set of reasons scientists can do this type of measurement now when it was not possible a few years ago. Colleagues at the Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience invented computational tools for non-invasive measurements in people, and without them measuring it into something impossible to do. Both groups of researchers then worked forward and tried the measurements on the subjects that were running or running.
The military is also interested in this type of technology that can be used to optimize troop performance by monitoring the brain activity of soldiers in the field to see when soldiers are in peak performance. The technology could also help the military understand how information could be best served and handled by soldiers.
Instead, any industry or organization interested in understanding how the brain and body interact can benefit by knowing how the brain functions during a given activity.
"We can imagine the brains of patients with different types of neurological disorders, and we may be able to target rehabilitation to groups of patients who exhibit similar symptoms," Gwin said. "If we can imagine the brain while undergoing some of these rehabilitation, we can design better treatments."