Decoding motor imagery from the posterior parietal cortex of a tetraplegic human

TLDR

Studies in monkeys show the posterior parietal cortex encodes planned and imagined actions, suggesting its role in brain‑computer interfaces. The authors implanted two microelectrode arrays in the posterior parietal cortex of a tetraplegic patient and recorded neural activity while the patient imagined limb and eye movements. Motor‑imagery activity in the patient mirrored that of actual movements, indicating potential for prosthetic control. Aflalo et al.

Abstract

Brain imagination to control external devices Studies in monkeys have implicated the brain's posterior parietal cortex in high-level coding of planned and imagined actions. Aflalo et al. implanted two microelectrode arrays in the posterior parietal cortex of a tetraplegic patient (see the Perspective by Pruszynski and Diedrichsen). They asked the patient to imagine various types of limb or eye movements. As predicted, motor imagery involved the same types of neural population activity involved in actual movements, which could potentially be exploited in prosthetic limb control. Science , this issue p. 906 ; see also p. 860