PLEASE NOTE:
This seminar is a hybrid in-person and online event. Please click here for the virtual registration form if you wish to attend this event virtually. For those attending in person, there is no need to register as you can simply turn up. Refreshments will be served immediately after this seminar in RSM 3.24.
Title:
Human Intracortical Brain-Computer Interfaces for Cognitive and Sensorimotor Control
Abstract:
Human Intracortical Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) use features of single unit recordings from implanted electrode arrays to decode intended behaviours of users and output this through external devices. Furthermore, stimulation through the same electrode arrays can be used to evoke neural activity and behaviour. Together recording and stimulation can be used for a closed-loop BCI. Typically, electrode arrays are implanted in sensorimotor cortices to restore sensorimotor control. We additionally implant in higher order cortical areas to develop cognitive BCIs. Neural features underlying cognitive tasks could be decoded and modulated by closed-loop BCIs in much the same way as sensorimotor signals. This allows the development of methods to address cognitive deficits in neurological disorders.
Speaker Biography:
Dr Luke Bashford completed his PhD at Imperial College London and his postdoctoral work at Caltech. Since 2023, Dr Luke Bashford is a Lecturer in Neuroscience and Neurotechnology at Newcastle University. In his research Luke uses Brain-Computer Interfaces to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying human sensorimotor and cognitive function for basic science and clinical translation. This is achieved by recording and stimulating through intracranial or intracortical electrodes during various experimental paradigms with clinical patients. Luke performs this research at Newcastle University, and in collaboration with the University of Colorado where he is Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery. PhD positions are currently available, and applications are encouraged.