In the past 50 years there has been an explosion of interest in the development of technologies whose end goal is to connect the human brain and/or nervous system directly to computers. Once the subject of science fiction, the technologies necessary to accomplish this goal are rapidly becoming reality. In laboratories around the globe, research is being undertaken to restore function to the physically disabled, to replace areas of the brain damaged by disease or trauma and to augment human abilities. Building neural interfaces and neuro-prosthetics relies on a diverse array of disciplines such as neuroscience, engineering, medicine and microfabrication just to name a few. This book presents a short history of neural interfacing (N.I.) research and introduces the reader to some of the current efforts to develop neural prostheses. The book is intended as an introduction for the college freshman or others wishing to learn more about the field. A resource guide is included for students along with a list of laboratories conducting N.I. research and universities with N.I. related tracks of study. Table of Contents: Neural Interfaces Past and Present / Current Neuroprosthesis Research / Conclusion / Resources for Students

This book focuses on the frontiers of neural interface technology, including hardware, software, neural decoding and encoding, control systems, and system integration. It also discusses applications for neuroprosthetics, neural diseases and neurorobotics, and the toolkits for basic neuroscience. A neural interface establishes a direct communication channel with the central or peripheral nervous system (CNS or PNS), and enables the nervous system to interact directly with the external devices. Recent advances in neuroscience and engineering are speeding up neural interface technology, paving the way for assisting, augmenting, repairing or restoring sensorimotor and other cognitive functions impaired due to neurological disease or trauma, and so improving the quality of life of those affected. Neural interfaces are now being explored in applications as diverse as rehabilitation, accessibility, gaming, education, recreation, robotics and human enhancement. Neural interfaces also represent a powerful tool to address fundamental questions in neuroscience. Recent decades have witnessed tremendous advances in the field, with a huge impact not only in the development of neuroprosthetics, but also in our basic understanding of brain function. Neural interface technology can be seen as a bridge across the traditional engineering and basic neuroscience. This book provides researchers, graduate and upper undergraduate students from a wide range of disciplines with a cutting-edge and comprehensive summary of neural interface engineering research.

This textbook fills a gap to supply students with the fundamental principles and tools they need to perform the quantitative analyses of the neuroelectrophysiological approaches, including both conventional and emerging ones, prevalently used in neuroscience research and neuroprosthetics. The content grows out of a course on Neuroengineering and Neuroprosthetics, which the author has taught already several times. The key problems the author addresses include (1) the universal operating mechanisms of neuroelectrophysiological approaches, (2) proper configuration of each approach, and (3) proper interpretation of the resulting signals. Efforts are made both to extract the universal principles underlying this common class of approaches and discern the unique properties of each individual approach. To address these important problems, equivalent electrical circuit modeling and signal analysis are used to unravel the functioning mechanisms and principles and provide sound interpretations to the associated signals and phenomena. This book aims to derive analytical solutions to these equivalent circuits, which can offer clear and complete mechanistic insights to the underlying biophysics.

This volume presents a timely overview of the latest BCI research, with contributions from many of the important research groups in the field.

This book provides a comprehensive reference to major neural interfacing technologies used to transmit signals between the physical world and the nervous system for repairing, restoring and even augmenting body functions. The authors discuss the classic approaches for neural interfacing, the major challenges encountered, and recent, emerging techniques to mitigate these challenges for better chronic performances. Readers will benefit from this book’s unprecedented scope and depth of coverage on the technology of neural interfaces, the most critical component in any type of neural prostheses. Provides comprehensive coverage of major neural interfacing technologies; Reviews and discusses both classic and latest, emerging topics; Includes classification of technologies to provide an easy grasp of research and trends in the field.

In the past 50 years there has been an explosion of interest in the development of technologies whose end goal is to connect the human brain and/or nervous system directly to computers. Once the subject of science fiction, the technologies necessary to accomplish this goal are rapidly becoming reality. In laboratories around the globe, research is being undertaken to restore function to the physically disabled, to replace areas of the brain damaged by disease or trauma and to augment human abilities. Building neural interfaces and neuro-prosthetics relies on a diverse array of disciplines such as neuroscience, engineering, medicine and microfabrication just to name a few. This book presents a short history of neural interfacing (N.I.) research and introduces the reader to some of the current efforts to develop neural prostheses. The book is intended as an introduction for the college freshman or others wishing to learn more about the field. A resource guide is included for students along with a list of laboratories conducting N.I. research and universities with N.I. related tracks of study. Table of Contents: Neural Interfaces Past and Present / Current Neuroprosthesis Research / Conclusion / Resources for Students

The idea of interfacing minds with machines has long captured the human imagination. Recent advances in neuroscience and engineering are making this a reality, opening the door to restoration and augmentation of human physical and mental capabilities. Medical applications such as cochlear implants for the deaf and neurally controlled prosthetic limbs for the paralyzed are becoming almost commonplace. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are also increasingly being used in security, lie detection, alertness monitoring, telepresence, gaming, education, art, and human augmentation. This introduction to the field is designed as a textbook for upper-level undergraduate and first-year graduate courses in neural engineering or brain-computer interfacing for students from a wide range of disciplines. It can also be used for self-study and as a reference by neuroscientists, computer scientists, engineers, and medical practitioners. Key features include questions and exercises in each chapter and a supporting website.