title: Skilled hindlimb reaching task in rats as a platform for a brain-machine interface to restore motor function after complete spinal cord injury.
abstract: Behavioral tasks utilized as models for decoding neural activity for use in brain-machine interfaces are constrained primarily to forelimb tasks or locomotion. We present here our methodology for training adult rats in a novel skilled hindlimb 'reaching' task in which the animal is trained to make different types of hindlimb movements. 6 adult Long-Evans rats were trained to make variable duration (<1 or >1.5 s) hindlimb presses cued by a spatially-independent visual cue. 5 of 6 animals (83.3%) were able to learn the task to proficiency. The training paradigm introduced here serves as a platform to investigate the ability of the animal to transfer motor cortical activity in response to a cue originally generated during normal movments, to a novel context in the absecense of movement and ultimately after complete mid-thoracic spinal cord transection. We also present preliminary results of offline classification of neural activity during trial performance for two trained animals.
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. ek89@drexel.edu
authors.forename: Eric B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Knudsen
authors.forename: Karen A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Moxon
authors.forename: Elliot B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Sturgis
authors.forename: Jed S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Shumsky
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology; D009068:Movement; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000503:physiopathology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013997:Time Factors; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014785:Vision, Ocular