Neural Manifolds for the Control of Movement

The analysis of neural dynamics in several brain cortices has consistently uncovered low-dimensional manifolds that capture a significant fraction of neural variability. These neural manifolds are spanned by specific patterns of correlated neural activity, the "neural modes." We discuss a model for neural control of movement in which the time-dependent activation of these neural modes is the generator of motor behavior. This manifold-based view of motor cortex may lead to a better understanding of how the brain controls movement.