The motor system is incredibly flexible in coupling motor commands to sensory contexts, but the neural mechanisms that underlie this flexibility are not well understood. To what extent can neural activity in primary motor cortex be decoupled from sensory conditions? How does this affect our ability to voluntarily control the firing of neurons within M1?
I use Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology in my research at the Chase Lab to investigate voluntary modulation of activity in M1. The answers to these questions will add to our fundamental understanding of the motor system and its native functions in healthy subjects, and can have direct implications for the design and development of clinical neuroprostheses.
Specifically, my research focuses in the following areas:
volitional modulation of single-cell activity in M1
influence of sensory context on M1 activity
integration of sensory information during motor control
effects of prolonged exposure to a single-cell task on controllability
Research presentations
2022 C. F. Fisac. Sensory Constraints on the Volitional Modulation of Neural Activity in the Motor Cortex. Biomedical Engineering PhD Thesis Defense, Carnegie Mellon University (United States). 2022.08.01
2020 C. F. Fisac, S. M. Chase. Sensory feedback impacts volitional control of single neurons even after prolonged training. Carnegie Mellon Forum on Biomedical Engineering and Annual Symposium of International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (virtual). 2020.09.18
2019 C. F. Fisac, S. M. Chase. Impact of sensory context on voluntary neural activity. Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University (United States). 2019.11.05
2019 C. F. Fisac, S. M. Chase. Sensory context interferes with volitional modulation of single neurons in M1 (poster). Neural Control of Movement annual meeting (Japan). 2019.04.26
2018 C. F. Fisac, S. M. Chase. Dissociating volitional and non-volitional drivers of activity in M1 (poster). Carnegie Mellon Forum for Biomedical Engineering (United States). 2018.09.21
2018 C. F. Fisac, S. M. Chase. Volition and Motor Cortex. Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh (United States). 2018.04.15
2016 C. F. Fisac. Exploring Neural Coding through Brain-Computer Interfaces. El Almendro Seminar, Carlos III University of Madrid (Spain). 2016.12.21