Brain–Computer Interfaces - Index of

Intracortical BCIs: A Brief History
of Neural Timing
Dawn M. Taylor and Michael E. Stetner
1 Introduction
In this chapter, we will explore the option of using neural activity recorded from tiny
arrays of hair-thin microelectrodes inserted a few millimeters into the brain itself.
These tiny electrodes are small and sensitive enough to detect the firing activity of
individual neurons. The ability to record individual neurons is unique to recording
technologies that penetrate the brain. These microelectrodes are also small enough
that many hundreds of them can be implanted in the brain at one time without displacing
much tissue. Therefore, the activity patterns of hundreds or even thousands
of individual neurons could potentially be detected and used for brain–computer
interfacing (BCI) applications.
Having access to hundreds of individual neurons opens up the possibility of controlling
very sophisticated devices directly with the brain. For example, you could
assign 88 individual neurons to control the 88 individual keys on a digital piano.
Theoretically, an individual could play the piano by firing the associated neurons at
the appropriate times. However, our ability to play Mozart directly from the brain
is still far off in the future (other than using a BCI to turn on the radio and select
your favorite classical station). There still are many technical challenges to overcome
before we can make use of all the potential information that can be extracted
from intracortical microelectrodes.
2 Why Penetrate the Brain?
To illustrate the practical differences between non-invasive and invasive brain
recording technologies, we will expand on a metaphor often used to explain how
extracortical recordings can provide useful information about brain activity without
recording individual neurons, i.e. “You don’t have to measure the velocity of every
D.M. Taylor (B)
Dept of Neurosciences, The Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA
e-mail: dxt42@case.edu
B. Graimann et al. (eds.), Brain–Computer Interfaces, The Frontiers Collection,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-02091-9_12, C○ Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010
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