Sub-mm functional decoupling of electrocortical signals through closed-loop BMI learning

Volitional control of neural activity lies at the heart of the Brain-Machine Interface (BMI) paradigm. In this work we investigated if subdural field potentials recorded by electrodes <; 1mm apart can be decoupled through closed-loop BMI learning. To this end, we fabricated custom, flexible microelectrode arrays with 200 μm electrode pitch and increased the effective electrode area by electrodeposition of platinum black to reduce thermal noise. We have chronically implanted these arrays subdurally over primary motor cortex (M1) of 5 male Long-Evans Rats and monitored the electrochemical electrode impedance in vivo to assess the stability of these neural interfaces. We successfully trained the rodents to perform a one-dimensional center-out task using closed-loop brain control to adjust the pitch of an auditory cursor by differentially modulating high gamma (70-110 Hz) power on pairs of surface microelectrodes that were separated by less than 1 mm.