Brain Function Video
Brain Function Video Transcript
^B00:00:00
>> Here you see we're recording the hand shape. This is a stick figure, and we have markers on the animal's hand. And we're tracking those very accurately so that we can actually recreate the shape of the hand as the animal does this task.
>> So this is a graphic representation of what the monkey's doing right now.
>> Correct.
>> And then how does that translate into recording how the brain is functioning.
>> Okay, so what you see up here is we have an electrode in the monkey's cortex, and we're recording single action potentials from individual neurons as the animals performs his complex task.
>> What's an action potential?
>> An action potential is the electrical activity that comes from a neuron -- and neurons are the cells of the brain, okay -- as it discharges and sends its information to other neurons. So this little trough in the middle of the graph here is one neuron.
>> Yes.
>> Firing off one time.
>> Right.
>> As he continues to do this motion over and over again.
>> Right. And it's the rate of firing that we're interested in. So every time a neuron fires an action potential, that action potential's the same. What changes is how fast that neuron fires.
>> So what does that tell you?
>> So there's a relationship between how fast the neuron fires and the way the animal moves its hand. And we're trying to understand that relationship and write an equation, so that if we see a neuron firing, we can say, "Ah, the animals about to make this kind of movement." And we've been successful doing that for the arm. Now we're trying to extend that to the hand.
>> So once all of this work is done, what'll you have?
>> So we hope to have a set of equations that allow us to decode the monkey's intended hand movement so that we can use that to control a prosthetic device.
>> How long will it take you to work this out?
>> Well, there'll be different stages, so we can do simple grasping, maybe turning a doorknob. We hope to do that within the next few months, okay? But to get truly dexterous control, so like, being able to play a piano, that's going to take longer. But we're doing it incrementally, step-wise.
>> Doctor, if you teach a monkey how to play a piano, I want to come back for that story. ^M00:02:02 [ Clock ticking ]
