The state-dependent neural decoder. Credit score: Qi et al.
In comparison with different animal species, people can plan and execute extremely refined motor duties, together with the power to put in writing advanced characters utilizing their arms. Whereas many previous research have tried to raised perceive the neural underpinnings of handwriting and different advanced human motor capabilities, these haven’t but been absolutely elucidated.
Previous research confirmed that the motor cortex performs an important position within the human means to translate intentions into actions. But the processes by way of which it allows the execution of exact and sequential actions, comparable to these related to handwriting, are poorly understood.
Researchers at Zhejiang College in China not too long ago carried out a research geared toward additional exploring the position of the human motor cortex within the encoding of intricate handwriting, comparable to Chinese language characters. Their findings, revealed in Nature Human Habits, counsel that this encoding unfolds by way of a sequence of secure neural states.
“When we started this project in 2022, we initially aimed to construct a Chinese handwriting brain-computer interface (BCI) system,” Yu Qi, first creator of the paper, advised Medical Xpress. “Though our BCI system may decode the motion velocity properly for cursor management, the reconstruction of Chinese language handwriting was removed from passable.
“We were frustrated at the time, because we realized that handwriting is a skilled, sophisticated movement, especially for Chinese characters (> 3,500 frequent characters composed by 32 types of strokes), thus it could be more difficult compared with cursor control.”
Regardless of their initially disappointing outcomes, Qi and her colleagues continued engaged on their handwriting BCI, by exploring the processes by way of which the mind, particularly the motor cortex encodes advanced handwriting. In the end, their efforts yielded fascinating new perception that allowed them to enhance their handwriting human-machine interface.
As a part of their current research, they carried out a sequence of experiments during which a human participant was requested to put in writing 306 distinct Chinese language characters. Whereas the participant was finishing the duty, the researchers recorded exercise in his motor cortex, to know the processes concerned within the encoding of the characters and execution of the handwriting activity.
A demo of the participant controlling a robotic arm to put in writing Chinese language characters on-line. Credit score: Nature Human Behaviour (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-025-02157-x
“The experiment task was simple,” defined Qi. “We asked our participant to write Chinese characters one by one, with the guidance of a video, just like a karaoke game for writing. We recorded single-unit MC neural activity from his motor cortex (MC) with two microelectrode arrays as he performed the handwriting task.”
The mind exercise recordings gathered by the researchers supplied new fascinating insights into the underpinnings of handwriting, suggesting that the motor cortex encodes advanced handwriting by breaking it right into a sequence of small motion segments or states. Of their paper, Qi and her colleagues hypothesize that these states are the primitive items of motion encoding.
“The movement encoding in MC showed a state-dependent property that the encoding function remains stable within each state while varying largely across states,” mentioned Qi. “Conventional neural decoders didn’t take into account this state-dependent neural property such that didn’t decode handwriting trajectories.
“These findings then inspired us to propose the state-dependent encoding and decoding model, along with the development of computational tools such as TFC and the state-dependent decoder, which enabled online Chinese handwriting decoding.”
This current work by Qi and her colleagues enriches the current understanding of how the human mind executes extra superior motor duties that require excessive ranges of precision. Sooner or later, their findings may inform the event of latest BCIs that enable customers to put in writing on a pc by way of their mind alerts.
“We are now focusing on the encoding and decoding model of more sophisticated fine movements, and our next goal is to construct BCIs capable of controlling diverse, sophisticated fine movements,” added Qi.
Extra info:
Yu Qi et al, Human motor cortex encodes advanced handwriting by means of a sequence of secure neural states, Nature Human Behaviour (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-025-02157-x
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