@article {LiuENEURO.0376-20.2020, author = {Zheng Liu and Marc H. Schieber}, title = {Neuronal activity distributed in multiple cortical areas during voluntary control of the native arm or a brain-computer interface}, elocation-id = {ENEURO.0376-20.2020}, year = {2020}, doi = {10.1523/ENEURO.0376-20.2020}, publisher = {Society for Neuroscience}, abstract = {Voluntary control of visually-guided upper extremity movements involves neuronal activity in multiple areas of the cerebral cortex. Studies of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that use spike recordings for input, however, have focused largely on activity in the region from which those neurons that directly control the BCI, which we call BCI units, are recorded. We hypothesized that, just as voluntary control of the arm and hand involves activity in multiple cortical areas, so does voluntary control of a BCI. In two subjects (Macaca mulatta) performing a center-out task both with a hand-held joystick and with a BCI directly controlled by 4 primary motor cortex (M1) BCI units, we recorded the activity of other, non-BCI units in M1, dorsal and ventral premotor cortex, primary somatosensory cortex, dorsal posterior parietal cortex, and the anterior intraparietal area. In most of these areas, non-BCI units were active in similar percentages and at similar modulation depths during both joystick and BCI trials. Both BCI and non-BCI units showed changes in preferred direction. Additionally, the prevalence of effective connectivity between BCI and non-BCI units was similar during both tasks. The subject with better BCI performance showed increased percentages of modulated non-BCI units with increased modulation depth and increased effective connectivity during BCI as compared to joystick trials; such increases were not found in the subject with poorer BCI performance. During voluntary, closed-loop control, non-BCI units in a given cortical area may function similarly whether the effector is the native upper extremity or a BCI-controlled device.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Reaching to and grasping a visible object involves neuronal activity in multiple areas of the cerebral cortex. Whether neurons in these areas are engaged similarly when a subject controls a brain-computer interface remains unknown. We found similar unit activity in multiple cortical areas as subjects performed a center-out task with either a hand-held joystick or a brain-computer interface controlled by only 4 BCI units in the primary motor cortex. Like the 4 BCI units, non-BCI units in most cortical areas showed changes in their preferred direction between joystick and BCI trials, with similar modulation depths and effective connectivity. We suggest that a given cortical area may function similarly during voluntary closed-loop control of either the upper extremity or a BCI.}, URL = {https://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2020/10/15/ENEURO.0376-20.2020}, eprint = {https://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2020/10/15/ENEURO.0376-20.2020.full.pdf}, journal = {eNeuro} }