Academic Journal
Preparatory encoding of intended movement in the human motor cortex and implications for brain-computer interfaces.
| Title: | Preparatory encoding of intended movement in the human motor cortex and implications for brain-computer interfaces. |
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| Authors: | Rigotti-Thompson M; Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA., Nason-Tomaszewski SR; Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA., Bechefsky PH; Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA., Acosta A; Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA., Hahn NV; Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94304, USA., Avansino DT; Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94304, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA., Richards BA; Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA., Nicolas C; Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA; School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA., Ali YH; Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA., Henderson JM; Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94304, USA; Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA., Hochberg LR; Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA; School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA; Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA; VA Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology, Department of Veterans' Affairs Medical Center, Providence, RI 02908, USA., AuYong N; Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Department of Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA., Pandarinath C; Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. Electronic address: chethan.pandarinath@emory.edu. |
| Source: | Current biology : CB [Curr Biol] 2026 Sep 07; Vol. 36 (17), pp. 4283-4296.e7. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Aug 11. |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Publisher: Cell Press Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 9107782 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1879-0445 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 09609822 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Curr Biol Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Cambridge, MA : Cell Press Original Publication: London, UK : Current Biology Ltd., c1991- |
| MeSH Terms: | Motor Cortex*/physiology , Brain-Computer Interfaces*, Movement/physiology ; Humans ; Female ; Adult ; Male |
| Abstract: | Over the course of a voluntary movement, motor cortical activity exhibits a transition from preparation to execution, with markedly different activity across these phases. Preparatory activity in particular might be used to improve brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that harness brain activity to control external assistive devices, for example by anticipating a user's intended movement trajectory for quick and fluid performance. However, to leverage preparatory activity for clinical BCIs, we must first understand which features of upcoming movements are encoded by preparatory activity in humans. In this work, we collected intracortical recordings from 3 research participants in the BrainGate2 clinical trial to investigate whether diverse features of movement, such as direction, curvature, and distance, are encoded by preparatory activity in the human motor cortex. We first show that preparatory activity is tuned to the direction of upcoming movements, and this tuning is largely preserved across movements with different effectors. Further investigation demonstrated that this preparatory activity is also informative of initial and target directions of curved movement trajectories and encodes, to a weaker extent, either movement distance or speed. Finally, we present an online control paradigm that leverages preparatory activity to predict movements toward intended directions in advance, yielding rapid, user-initiated control of a computer cursor by human participants. Altogether, these results demonstrate that preparatory activity in the human motor cortex encodes rich features of upcoming movement, highlighting its potential use for high-performance BCI applications. (Copyright © 2026 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of interests C.P. has served as a consultant and research scientist for Meta (Reality Labs). The MGH Translational Research Center has a clinical research support agreement (CRSA) with Ability Neurotech, Analog Devices, Axoft, Medtronic, Neuralink, Neurobionics, Paradromics, Precision Neuro, Reach Neuro, and Synchron, for which L.R.H. provides consultative input. Mass General Brigham (MGB) convenes the Implantable Brain-Computer Interface Collaborative Community (iBCI-CC); charitable gift agreements to MGB, including those received to date from Axoft, Blackrock Neurotech, Neuralink, Paradromics, Precision Neuro, and Synchron, support the iBCI-CC, for which L.R.H. provides effort. J.M.H. is a consultant for Paradromics, is a shareholder in Maplight Therapeutics and Enspire DBS, and is a co-founder and shareholder in Re-EmergeDBS. He is also an inventor on intellectual property licensed by Stanford University to Blackrock Neurotech and Neuralink. |
| Comments: | Update of: bioRxiv. 2025 Sep 25:2025.09.24.678356. doi: 10.1101/2025.09.24.678356.. (PMID: 41040179) |
| Grant Information: | DP2 NS127291 United States NS NINDS NIH HHS; F32 HD112173 United States HD NICHD NIH HHS; R01 DC014034 United States DC NIDCD NIH HHS; U01 DC017844 United States DC NIDCD NIH HHS |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: brain-computer interface; intracortical; microelectrode array; motor cortex; motor preparation; preparatory activity |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260811 Date Completed: 20260907 Latest Revision: 20260907 |
| Update Code: | 20260908 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.cub.2026.07.040 |
| PMID: | 42580347 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1879-0445 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.cub.2026.07.040 |