News Finding: Byron M. Yu, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon, believes this work demonstrates the utility of BCI for basic scientific studies that will eventually impact people's lives.
Paper Finding: Number of within-manifold perturbations, n 5 27 (monkey J), 14 (monkey L); outsidemanifold perturbations, n 5 33 (monkey J), 15 (monkey L).
News Context: Because the existing brain patterns likely reflect how the neurons are interconnected, the results suggest that the connectivity among neurons shapes learning. Byron M. Yu, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon, believes this work demonstrates the utility of BCI for basic scientific studies that will eventually impact people's lives. "These findings could be the basis for novel rehabilitation procedures for the many neural disorders that are characterized by improper neural activity," Yu says.
Paper Context: These data are consistent with the hypothesis that relatively little learning occurred during the outside-manifold perturbations in comparison to the within-manifold perturbations. Number of within-manifold perturbations, n 5 27 (monkey J), 14 (monkey L); outsidemanifold perturbations, n 5 33 (monkey J), 15 (monkey L). The monkeys minimally moved their hands, but the movements did not approach the limits of the restraints.