To jump or not to jump - The Bereitschaftspotential required to jump into 192-meter abyss.

Self-initiated voluntary acts, such as pressing a button, are preceded by a surface-negative electrical brain potential, the Bereitschaftspotential (BP), that can be recorded over the human scalp using electroencephalography (EEG). While the BP's early component (BP1, generated in the supplementary and cingulate motor area) was linked to motivational, intentional and timing properties, the BP's late component (BP2, generated in the primary motor cortex) was found to be linked to motor execution and performance. Up to now, the BP required to initiate voluntary acts has only been recorded under well-controlled laboratory conditions, and it was unknown whether possible life-threatening decision making, e.g. required to jump into a 192-meter abyss, would impact this form of brain activity. Here we document for the first time pre-movement brain activity preceding 192-meter bungee jumping. We found that the BP's spatiotemporal dynamics reflected by BP1 and BP2 are comparable before 192-meter bungee jumping and jumping from 1-meter. These results, possible through recent advancements in wireless and portable EEG technology, suggest that possible life-threatening decision-making has no impact on the BP's spatiotemporal dynamics.

Brain-machine interfaces for rehabilitation of poststroke hemiplegia.

Noninvasive brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) are typically associated with neuroprosthetic applications or communication aids developed to assist in daily life after loss of motor function, eg, in severe paralysis. However, BMI technology has recently been found to be a powerful tool to promote neural plasticity facilitating motor recovery after brain damage, eg, due to stroke or trauma. In such BMI paradigms, motor cortical output and input are simultaneously activated, for instance by translating motor cortical activity associated with the attempt to move the paralyzed fingers into actual exoskeleton-driven finger movements, resulting in contingent visual and somatosensory feedback. Here, we describe the rationale and basic principles underlying such BMI motor rehabilitation paradigms and review recent studies that provide new insights into BMI-related neural plasticity and reorganization. Current challenges in clinical implementation and the broader use of BMI technology in stroke neurorehabilitation are discussed.

Hybrid EEG/EOG-based brain/neural hand exoskeleton restores fully independent daily living activities after quadriplegia.

Direct brain control of advanced robotic systems promises substantial improvements in health care, for example, to restore intuitive control of hand movements required for activities of daily living in quadriplegics, like holding a cup and drinking, eating with cutlery, or manipulating different objects. However, such integrated, brain- or neural-controlled robotic systems have yet to enter broader clinical use or daily life environments. We demonstrate full restoration of independent daily living activities, such as eating and drinking, in an everyday life scenario across six paraplegic individuals (five males, 30 ± 14 years) who used a noninvasive, hybrid brain/neural hand exoskeleton (B/NHE) to open and close their paralyzed hand. The results broadly suggest that brain/neural-assistive technology can restore autonomy and independence in quadriplegic individuals' everyday life.