The functional and structural properties of the dorsolateral frontal lobe and posterior parietal proximal arm representations were studied in macaque monkeys. Physiological mapping of primary motor (MI), dorsal premotor (PMd), and posterior parietal (area 5) cortices was performed in behaving monkeys trained in an instructed-delay reaching task. The parietofrontal corticocorticat connectivities of these same areas were subsequently examined anatomically by means of retrograde tracing techniques. Signal-, set-, movement-, and position-related directional neuronal activities were distributed nonuniformly within the task-related areas in both frontal and parietal cortices. Within the frontal lobe, moving caudally from PMd to the MI, the activity that signals for the visuospatial events leading to target localization decreased, while the activity more directly linked to movement generation increased. Physiological recordings in the superior parietal lobule revealed a gradient-like distribution of functional properties similar to that observed in the frontal lobe. Signal- and set-related activities were encountered more frequently in the intermediate and ventral part of the medial bank of the intraparietal sulcus (IPS), in area MIP. Movement- and position-related activities were distributed more uniformly within the superior parietal lobule (SPL), in both dorsal area 5 and in MIP. Frontal and parietal regions sharing similar functional properties were preferentially connected through their association pathways. As a result of this study, area MIP, and possibly areas MDP and 7m as well, emerge as the parietal nodes by which visual information may be relayed to the frontal lobe arm region. These parietal and frontal areas, along with their association connections, represent a potential cortical network for visual reaching. The architecture of this network is ideal for coding reaching as the result of a combination between visual and somatic information.

How is spatial information for limb movement encoded in the brain? Computational and psychophysical studies suggest that beginning hand position, via-points, and target are specified relative to the body to afford a comparison between the sensory (e. g., kinesthetic) reaf-ferences and the commands that generate limb movement Here we propose that the superior parietal lobule (Brodmann area 5) might represent a substrata for a body-centered positional code. Monkeys made arm movements in different parts of 3D space in a reaction-time task. We found that the activity of area 5 neurons can be related to either the starting point or the final point or combinations of the two. Neural activity is monotonicalty tuned in a body-centered frame of reference, whose coordinates define the azimuth, elevation, and distance of the hand. Each spatial coordinate tends to be encoded in a different sub-population of neurons. This parcellation could be a neural correlate of the psychophysical observation that these spatial parameters are processed in parallel and largely independent of each other in man.

Grasso, R., L. Bianchi, and F. Lacquaniti. Motor patterns for human gait: backward versus forward locomotion. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 1868–1885, 1998. Seven healthy subjects walked forward (FW) and backward (BW) at different freely chosen speeds, while their motion, ground reaction forces, and electromyographic (EMG) activity from lower limb muscles were recorded. We considered the time course of the elevation angles of the thigh, shank, and foot segments in the sagittal plane, the anatomic angles of the hip, knee, and ankle joints, the vertical and longitudinal ground reaction forces, and the rectified EMGs. The elevation angles were the most reproducible variables across trials in each walking direction. After normalizing the time course of each variable over the gait cycle duration, the waveforms of all elevation angles in BW gait were essentially time reversed relative to the corresponding waveforms in FW gait. Moreover, the changes of the thigh, shank, and foot elevation covaried along a plane during the whole gait cycle in both FW and BW directions. Cross-correlation analysis revealed that the phase coupling among these elevation angles is maintained with a simple reversal of the delay on the reversal of walking direction. The extent of FW–BW correspondence also was good for the hip angle, but it was smaller for the knee and ankle angles and for the ground reaction forces. The EMG patterns were drastically different in the two movement directions as was the organization of the muscular synergies measured by cross-correlation analysis. Moreover, at any given speed, the mean EMG activity over the gait cycle was generally higher in BW than in FW gait, suggesting a greater level of energy expenditure in the former task. We argue that conservation of kinematic templates across gait reversal at the expense of a complete reorganization of muscle synergies does not arise from biomechanical constraints but may reflect a behavioral goal achieved by the central networks involved in the control of locomotion.

This paper summarizes the presentations and discussions at a workshop held during the Fourth International BCI Meeting charged with reviewing and evaluating the current state, limitations and future development of P300-based brain-computer interface (P300-BCI) systems. We reviewed such issues as potential users, recording methods, stimulus presentation paradigms, feature extraction and classification algorithms, and applications. A summary of the discussions and the panel's recommendations for each of these aspects are presented.

Bianchi, L., D. Angelini, G. P. Orani, and F. Lacquaniti. Kinematic coordination in human gait: relation to mechanical energy cost. J. Neurophysiol. 79: 2155–2170, 1998. Twenty-four subjects walked at different, freely chosen speeds ( V) ranging from 0.4 to 2.6 m s⁻¹, while the motion and the ground reaction forces were recorded in three-dimensional space. We considered the time course of the changes of the angles of elevation of the trunk, pelvis, thigh, shank, and foot in the sagittal plane. These angles specify the orientation of each segment with respect to the vertical and to the direction of forward progression. The changes of the trunk and pelvis angles are of limited amplitude and reflect the dynamics of both right and left lower limbs. The changes of the thigh, shank, and foot elevation are ample, and they are coupled tightly among each other. When these angles are plotted one versus the others, they describe regular loops constrained on a plane. The plane of angular covariation rotates, slightly but systematically, along the long axis of the gait loop with increasing V. The rotation, quantified by the change of the direction cosine of the normal to the plane with the thigh axis ( u_{3 t}), is related to a progressive phase shift between the foot elevation and the shank elevation with increasing V. As a next step in the analysis, we computed the mass-specific mean absolute power ( P_u) to obtain a global estimate of the rate at which mechanical work is performed during the gait cycle. When plotted on logarithmic coordinates, P_uincreases linearly with V. The slope of this relationship varies considerably across subjects, spanning a threefold range. We found that, at any given V > 1 m s⁻¹, the value of the plane orientation ( u_{3 t}) is correlated with the corresponding value of the net mechanical power ( P_u). On the average, the progressive rotation of the plane with increasing V is associated with a reduction of the increment of P_uthat would occur if u_{3 t}remained constant at the value characteristic of low V. The specific orientation of the plane at any given speed is not the same in all subjects, but there is an orderly shift of the plane orientation that correlates with the net power expended by each subject. In general, smaller values of u_{3 t}tend to be associated with smaller values of P_uand vice versa. We conclude that the parametric tuning of the plane of angular covariation is a reliable predictor of the mechanical energy expenditure of each subject and could be used by the nervous system for limiting the overall energy expenditure.