The goal of the workshop is to generate a lively discussion of the design principles for a brain/machine interface.  Selected speakers will present their ideas about how the nervous system dynamically organizes representations that may be used to control neurosprosthetic interfaces.  While some neuroprosthetics are built around explicit motor representations e.g. kinematic plans, others involve the notion of primitives and low dimensional representations of input and output. These representations may or may not code for explicit plans.  It is very likely that the appropriate choices of sensory and motor representations and motor elements are critical for the design of an integrated sensorimotor prosthesis that enables rapid adaptive learning, and creative construction of new motions or novel plans for execution. With a burgeoning interest in neuroprosthetics it is therefore timely to address how the interfaces to neuroprostheses should be conceptualized: what representations should be extracted from the brain, what control elements should be provided and how should these be integrated.  This workshop will engage a wide range of perspectives to address needs for research and the future of neuroprosthetic devices. The workshop will include discussions of neural coding, new technologies and algorithms for interpreting and representing the neural code, and applications or experimental approaches enabled by new and current technologies

Schedule:

Introductory Remarks: Simon Giszter

Morning Session: stimulation and control of the plant with neuroprostheses

Afternoon Session: representation and signal extraction for neuroprostheses