Adaptive Neurotechnologies: Principles and Promise
Event details
| Date | 19.03.2014 |
| Hour | 14:30 |
| Speaker | Prof. Jonathan R. Wolpaw, Wadsworth Center, New York State Dept of Health and State University of New York, Albany, NY (USA) |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
DISTINGUISHED LECTURE IN BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING
Abstract:
Recent recognition that the central nervous system (CNS) changes continually throughout life, and recent development of high-performance hardware and software, provide unprecedented opportunities for realtime adaptive interactions with the CNS.
We have built a technological infrastructure that supports such adaptive interactions and are using it to enable, explore, and exploit three major kinds of interactions:
Bio:
Dr. Wolpaw earned his M.D. at Case Western Reserve University in 1970 and did his postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He is Chief of the Laboratory of Nervous System Disorders at the Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health and State University of New York. He is also Professor, School of Public Health, Biomedical Sciences.
The primary interest of Dr. Wolpaw's laboratory is in development and use of a new model for defining the substrates of vertebrate learning. His studies have demonstrated operant conditioning of the simplest behavior of the vertebrate CNS, the H-reflex, which is the electrical analog of the spinal stretch reflex. The responsible plasticity is in the spinal cord, so that H-reflex conditioning is a good model for studying the processes underlying a learned change in behavior. In addition, it is the basis for a new therapeutic approach to spasticity and other forms of abnormal reflex function. His present goals are to define the spinal cord plasticity associated with H-reflex conditioning both physiologically and anatomically, and to determine how supraspinal control produces this plasticity.
In addition, he is developing brain-computer interface (BCI) technology to restore communication and control to people who are severely paralyzed by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), strokes, or other devastating neuromuscular disorders. People learn to use their brain waves recorded from the scalp to select letters or icons on a computer screen or to move a cursor. He has begun to take his BCI system out of the lab and into the homes of people with severe disabilities. He is testing its capacity to restore communication and control to them in their daily lives.
Speaker's personal web page
Abstract:
Recent recognition that the central nervous system (CNS) changes continually throughout life, and recent development of high-performance hardware and software, provide unprecedented opportunities for realtime adaptive interactions with the CNS.
We have built a technological infrastructure that supports such adaptive interactions and are using it to enable, explore, and exploit three major kinds of interactions:
- Operant conditioning of simple spinal cord reflexes - The simplest spinal reflex pathways can be modified through operant conditioning, and appropriate modifications can improve walking in animals and humans with spinal cord injuries. This work opens a new approach to neurorehabilitation.
- Translation of scalp-recorded electroencephalographic (EEG) activity into communication and control outputs - People can learn to use EEG features to communicate and even to control movements in multiple dimensions. A brain-computer interface (BCI) system designed for independent home use can restore basic communication capacity to people with severe disabilities. BCIs may also enhance rehabilitation after strokes and in other disorders.
- Mapping of and interactions with distributed cortical functions using electrocorticographic (ECoG) activity recorded from the cortical surface - Analysis methods that take advantage of the high spatiotemporal resolution of ECoG signals provide a new functional mapping system that is a safer and more efficient alternative to stimulation-based mapping prior to brain surgery. ECoG analysis can also elucidate the complex cortical processing underlying sensorimotor functions.
Bio:
Dr. Wolpaw earned his M.D. at Case Western Reserve University in 1970 and did his postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He is Chief of the Laboratory of Nervous System Disorders at the Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health and State University of New York. He is also Professor, School of Public Health, Biomedical Sciences.
The primary interest of Dr. Wolpaw's laboratory is in development and use of a new model for defining the substrates of vertebrate learning. His studies have demonstrated operant conditioning of the simplest behavior of the vertebrate CNS, the H-reflex, which is the electrical analog of the spinal stretch reflex. The responsible plasticity is in the spinal cord, so that H-reflex conditioning is a good model for studying the processes underlying a learned change in behavior. In addition, it is the basis for a new therapeutic approach to spasticity and other forms of abnormal reflex function. His present goals are to define the spinal cord plasticity associated with H-reflex conditioning both physiologically and anatomically, and to determine how supraspinal control produces this plasticity.
In addition, he is developing brain-computer interface (BCI) technology to restore communication and control to people who are severely paralyzed by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), strokes, or other devastating neuromuscular disorders. People learn to use their brain waves recorded from the scalp to select letters or icons on a computer screen or to move a cursor. He has begun to take his BCI system out of the lab and into the homes of people with severe disabilities. He is testing its capacity to restore communication and control to them in their daily lives.
Speaker's personal web page
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free