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Updated: Jan 7, 2026
Mapping Cortical Dynamics Using Simultaneous MEG/EEG and Anatomically-constrained Minimum-norm Estimates: an Auditory Attention Example
Published on: October 24, 2012
Large-scale mapping of artificial perceptions for neuroprostheses using spontaneous neuronal activity in macaque and
Antonio Lozano1, Xing Chen2, Mike La Grouw3
1Department of Vision & Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Bioengineering Institute and Cátedra Bidons Egara, University Miguel Hernández, Elche, Spain.
NEUmap rapidly and automatically maps phosphene locations for visual prostheses, significantly reducing the time and effort required for electrode mapping in blind individuals. This new method aids in restoring vision by efficiently charting visual field coordinates.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Biomedical Engineering
- Computer Science
Background:
- High-channel-count neuroprostheses aim to restore vision via electrical stimulation of the visual cortex, creating phosphenes.
- Current phosphene mapping methods are time-consuming and challenging, especially for individuals with unstable fixation or spontaneous visual phenomena.
Purpose of the Study:
- Introduce and evaluate NEUmap, a novel, automated method for rapid phosphene mapping.
- Extract spatial patterns from spontaneous cortical activity to map electrode positions efficiently.
Main Methods:
- Utilize dimensionality reduction to map relative electrode positions based on neuronal activity correlations.
- Employ a small set of manually identified 'anchor points' for phosphene localization.
- Align anchor points with the electrode distance map to estimate visual field coordinates for all phosphenes.
Main Results:
- NEUmap successfully mapped hundreds of electrodes in monkeys (∼300-700) and humans (73-91).
- The method was applied to data from 896 V1 electrodes in monkeys and 96 V1/V2 electrodes in human volunteers.
Conclusions:
- NEUmap offers a significant improvement over tedious existing clinical phosphene mapping techniques.
- This automated method can map hundreds of electrodes using minimal resting-state data, easing the burden for future neuroprosthesis users.
