Neural Interface: Frontiers and Applications

Book excerpt: 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.