A New Labeling Approach for Proportional Electromyographic Control.

Different control strategies are available for human machine interfaces based on electromyography (EMG) to map voluntary muscle signals to control signals of a remote controlled device. Complex systems such as robots or multi-fingered hands require a natural commanding, which can be realized with proportional and simultaneous control schemes. Machine learning approaches and methods based on regression are often used to realize the desired functionality. Training procedures often include the tracking of visual stimuli on a screen or additional sensors, such as cameras or force sensors, to create labels for decoder calibration. In certain scenarios, where ground truth, such as additional sensor data, can not be measured, e.g., with people suffering from physical disabilities, these methods come with the challenge of generating appropriate labels. We introduce a new approach that uses the EMG-feature stream recorded during a simple training procedure to generate continuous labels. The method avoids synchronization mismatches in the labels and has no need for additional sensor data. Furthermore, we investigated the influence of the transient phase of the muscle contraction when using the new labeling approach. For this purpose, we performed a user study involving 10 subjects performing online 2D goal-reaching and tracking tasks on a screen. In total, five different labeling methods were tested, including three variations of the new approach as well as methods based on binary labels, which served as a baseline. Results of the evaluation showed that the introduced labeling approach in combination with the transient phase leads to a proportional command that is more accurate than using only binary labels. In summary, this work presents a new labeling approach for proportional EMG control without the need of a complex training procedure or additional sensors.

Voltage-dependent gating of KCNH potassium channels lacking a covalent link between voltage-sensing and pore domains.

Voltage-gated channels open paths for ion permeation upon changes in membrane potential, but how voltage changes are coupled to gating is not entirely understood. Two modules can be recognized in voltage-gated potassium channels, one responsible for voltage sensing (transmembrane segments S1 to S4), the other for permeation (S5 and S6). It is generally assumed that the conversion of a conformational change in the voltage sensor into channel gating occurs through the intracellular S4-S5 linker that provides physical continuity between the two regions. Using the pathophysiologically relevant KCNH family, we show that truncated proteins interrupted at, or lacking the S4-S5 linker produce voltage-gated channels in a heterologous model that recapitulate both the voltage-sensing and permeation properties of the complete protein. These observations indicate that voltage sensing by the S4 segment is transduced to the channel gate in the absence of physical continuity between the modules.

The effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on monoamine outflow in the nucleus accumbens shell in freely moving rats.

Evidence exists that modulation of neuronal activity in nucleus accumbens shell region may re-establish normal function in various neuropsychiatric conditions such as drug-withdrawal, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression and chronic pain. Here, we study the effects of acute repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on monoamine outflow in the nucleus accumbens shell in awake and freely moving rats using in vivo microdialysis. To scale the biochemical results to the induced electric field in the rat brain, we obtained a realistic simulation of the stimulation scenario using a finite element model. Applying 20 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in 6 trains of 50 stimuli with 280 µs pulse width at a magnetic field strength of 130% of the individual motor threshold, dopamine as well as serotonin outflow in the nucleus accumbens shell significantly increased compared to sham stimulation. Since the electric field decays rapidly with depth in the rat brain, we can conclude that the modulation in neurotransmitter outflow from the nucleus accumbens shell is presumably a remote effect of cortical stimulation.