A fast intracortical brain-machine interface with patterned optogenetic feedback

The development of brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) brings new prospects to patients with a loss of autonomy. By combining online recordings of brain activity with a decoding algorithm, patients can learn to control a robotic arm in order to perform simple actions. However, in contrast to the vast amounts of somatosensory information channeled by limbs to the brain, current BMIs are devoid of touch and force sensors. Patients must therefore rely solely on vision and audition, which are maladapted to the control of a prosthesis. In contrast, in a healthy limb, somatosensory inputs alone can efficiently guide the handling of a fragile object, or ensure a smooth trajectory. We have developed a BMI in the mouse that includes a rich artificial somatosensory-like cortical feedback.

Our setup includes online recordings of the activity of multiple neurons in the whisker primary motor cortex (vM1) and delivers feedback simultaneously via a low-latency, high-refresh-rate, spatially structured photo-stimulation of the whisker primary somatosensory cortex (vS1), based on a mapping obtained by intrinsic imaging.

We demonstrate the operation of the loop and show that mice can detect the neuronal spiking in vS1 triggered by the photo-stimulations. Finally, we show that the mice can learn a behavioral task relying solely on the artificial inputs and outputs of the closed-loop BMI.

This is the first motor BMI that includes a short-latency, intracortical, somatosensory-like feedback. It will be a useful platform to discover efficient cortical feedback schemes towards future human BMI applications.