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Our knowledge about neural mechanisms underlying decision making is largely based on experiments that involved few options. However, it is more common in daily life to choose between many options, in which processing choice information selectively is particularly important. The current study examined whether the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC) are of particular importance to multiple-option decision making. Sixty-eight participants received anodal high definition-transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) to focally enhance dlPFC or PPC in a double-blind sham-controlled design. Participants then performed a multiple-option decision making task. We found longer fixations on poorer options were related to less optimal decisions. Interestingly, this negative impact was attenuated after applying anodal HD-tDCS over dlPFC, especially in choices with many options. This suggests that dlPFC has a causal role in filtering choice-irrelevant information. In contrast, these effects were absent after participants received anodal HD-tDCS over PPC. Instead, the choices made by these participants were more biased towards the best options presented on the side contralateral to the stimulation. This suggests PPC has a causal role in value-based spatial selection. To conclude, the dlPFC has a role in filtering undesirable options, whereas the PPC emphasizes the desirable contralateral options.

The uniqueness of neural processes between allocentric and egocentric spatial coding has been controversial. The distinctive paradigms used in previous studies for manipulating spatial coding could have attributed for the inconsistent results. This study was aimed to generate converging evidence from previous functional brain imaging experiments for collating neural substrates associated with these two types of spatial coding. An additional aim was to test whether test-taking processes would have influenced the results. We obtained coordinate-based functional neuroimaging data for 447 subjects and performed activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis. Among the 28 experiments, the results indicate two common clusters of convergence. They were the right precuneus and the right superior frontal gyrus as parts of the parieto-frontal circuit. Between-type differences were in the parieto-occipital circuit, with allocentric showing convergence in the superior occipital gyrus (SOG) cluster compared with egocentric showing convergence in the middle occipital gyrus (MOG) cluster. Task-specific influences were only found in allocentric spatial coding. Spatial judgment-oriented tasks seem to increase the demands on manipulating spatial relationships among the visual objects, while spatial navigation tasks seem to increase the demands on maintaining object representations. Our findings address the theoretical controversies on spatial coding that both the allocentric and egocentric types are common in their processes mediated by the parieto-frontal network, while unique and additional processes in the allocentric type are mediated by the parieto-occipital network. The positive results on possible task-specific confound offer insights into the future design of spatial tasks for eliciting spatial coding processes.

Allocentric and egocentric are two types of spatial coding. Previous studies reported the dorsal attention network's involvement in both types. To eliminate possible paradigm-specific confounds in the results, this study employed fine-grained cue-to-target paradigm to dissociate allocentric (aSC) and egocentric (eSC) spatial coding. Twenty-two participants completed a custom visuospatial task, and changes in the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (O2-Hb) were recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator-regularized principal component (LASSO-RPC) algorithm was used to identify cortical sites that predicted the aSC and eSC conditions' reaction times. Significant changes in O2-Hb concentration in the right inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and post-central gyrus regions were common in both aSC and eSC. Results of inter-channel correlations further substantiate cortical activities in both conditions were predominantly over the right parieto-frontal areas. Together with right superior frontal gyrus areas be the reaction time neural correlates, the results suggest top-down attention and response-mapping processes are common to both spatial coding types. Changes unique to aSC were in clusters over the right intraparietal sulcus, right temporo-parietal junction, and left IPL. With the left pre-central gyrus region, be the reaction time neural correlate, aSC is likely to involve more orienting attention, updating of spatial information, and object-based response selection and inhibition than eSC. Future studies will use other visuospatial task designs for testing the robustness of the findings on spatial coding processes.

Event-related desynchronization (ERD), as a proxy for mirror neuron activity, has been used as a neurophysiological marker for motor execution after mirror visual feedback (MVF). Using EEG, this study investigated ERD upon the immediate effects of single-session MVF in unimanual arm movements compared with the ERD effects occurring without a mirror, in two groups: stroke patients with left hemiplegia and their healthy counterparts. During EEG recordings, each group performed one session of mirror therapy training in three task conditions: with a mirror, with no mirror, and with a covered mirror. An asymmetry index was calculated from the subtraction of the event-related spectrum perturbations between the C3 and C4 electrodes located over the sensorimotor cortices contralateral and ipsilateral to the moved arm. Results of the effect of task versus group in contralateral and ipsilateral motor areas showed that there was a significant effect of task condition at the contralateral motor area in the high beta band (17–35 Hz) at C3. High beta ERD showed that the suppression was greater over the contralateral hemisphere than it was over the ipsilateral hemisphere in both study groups. The magnitude of low beta (12–16 Hz) ERD in patients with stroke was more suppressed in contralesional C3 under the no mirror compared to that of the covered mirror and similarly more suppressed in ipsilesional C4 ERD under the no mirror compared to that of the mirror condition. The correlation analysis revealed that the magnitude of ERSP power correlated significantly with arm severity in the low and high beta bands in patients with stroke, and a higher asymmetry index in the low beta band was associated with higher arm functioning under the no-mirror condition. There was a shift in sensorimotor ERD toward the contralateral hemisphere as induced by MVF accompanying unimanual movement in both stroke patients and healthy controls. The use of ERD in the low beta band as a neurophysiological marker to indicate the relationships between the amount of MVF-induced ERD attenuation and motor severity, and the outcome indicator for improving stroke patients’ neuroplasticity in clinical trials using MVF are warranted to be explored in the future.

Background A substantial number of clinical studies have demonstrated the functional recovery induced by the use of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology in patients after stroke. The objective of this review is to evaluate the effect sizes of clinical studies investigating the use of BCIs in restoring upper extremity function after stroke and the potentiating effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on BCI training for motor recovery. Methods The databases (PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, CENTRAL, PsycINFO, and PEDro) were systematically searched for eligible single-group or clinical controlled studies regarding the effects of BCIs in hemiparetic upper extremity recovery after stroke. Single-group studies were qualitatively described, but only controlled-trial studies were included in the meta-analysis. The PEDro scale was used to assess the methodological quality of the controlled studies. A meta-analysis of upper extremity function was performed by pooling the standardized mean difference (SMD). Subgroup meta-analyses regarding the use of external devices in combination with the application of BCIs were also carried out. We summarized the neural mechanism of the use of BCIs on stroke. Results A total of 1015 records were screened. Eighteen single-group studies and 15 controlled studies were included. The studies showed that BCIs seem to be safe for patients with stroke. The single-group studies consistently showed a trend that suggested BCIs were effective in improving upper extremity function. The meta-analysis (of 12 studies) showed a medium effect size favoring BCIs for improving upper extremity function after intervention (SMD = 0.42; 95% CI = 0.18–0.66; I2 = 48%; P I2 = 0%; P = 0.540; fixed-effects model). A subgroup meta-analysis indicated that using functional electrical stimulation as the external device in BCI training was more effective than using other devices (P = 0.010). Using movement attempts as the trigger task in BCI training appears to be more effective than using motor imagery (P = 0.070). The use of tDCS (two studies) could not further facilitate the effects of BCI training to restore upper extremity motor function (SMD = − 0.30; 95% CI = − 0.96 – 0.36; I2 = 0%; P = 0.370; fixed-effects model). Conclusion The use of BCIs has significant immediate effects on the improvement of hemiparetic upper extremity function in patients after stroke, but the limited number of studies does not support its long-term effects. BCIs combined with functional electrical stimulation may be a better combination for functional recovery than other kinds of neural feedback. The mechanism for functional recovery may be attributed to the activation of the ipsilesional premotor and sensorimotor cortical network.

Cross-modal learning requires the use of information from different sensory modalities. This study investigated how the prior visual experience of late blind individuals could modulate neural processes associated with learning of sound localization. Learning was realized by standardized training on sound localization processing, and experience was investigated by comparing brain activations elicited from a sound localization task in individuals with (late blind, LB) and without (early blind, EB) prior visual experience. After the training, EB showed decreased activation in the precuneus, which was functionally connected to a limbic-multisensory network. In contrast, LB showed the increased activation of the precuneus. A subgroup of LB participants who demonstrated higher visuospatial working memory capabilities (LB-HVM) exhibited an enhanced precuneus-lingual gyrus network. This differential connectivity suggests that visuospatial working memory due to the prior visual experience gained via LB-HVM enhanced learning of sound localization. Active visuospatial navigation processes could have occurred in LB-HVM compared to the retrieval of previously bound information from long-term memory for EB. The precuneus appears to play a crucial role in learning of sound localization, disregarding prior visual experience. Prior visual experience, however, could enhance cross-modal learning by extending binding to the integration of unprocessed information, mediated by the cognitive functions that these experiences develop. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10548-017-0549-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Allocentric and egocentric are two types of spatial coding. Previous studies reported the dorsal attention network's involvement in both types. To eliminate possible paradigm-specific confounds in the results, this study employed fine-grained cue-to-target paradigm to dissociate allocentric (aSC) and egocentric (eSC) spatial coding. Twenty-two participants completed a custom visuospatial task, and changes in the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (O

Most people acquire motor skills through feedback-based training. How the human brain processes sensory feedbacks during training, especially in a gait training, remain largely unclear. The purpose of this paper is to explore how humans adopt a new gait pattern to reduce impacts during walking-with the aid of visual and audio feedbacks. This paper demonstrates the features of underlying brain activity in incorporating the visual or auditory cues to acquire a new gait pattern. Electroencephalography (EEG) and peak positive acceleration (PPA) of the heel were collected from 23 participants during walking on a treadmill with no feedback, with visual feedback, or with audio feedback. The feedbacks were presented after each foot strike, where a sub-threshold PPA triggered a positive feedback (green/low-pitched), and a suprathreshold PPA triggered a negative feedback (red/high-pitched). The participants were instructed to voluntarily control their gait, so that low PPA could be achieved. This control was perturbed in some sessions by an additional cognitive task, and the influence of such distraction was also explored. The PPA was significantly lower in the sessions with visual or audio feedback than in sessions without feedback, showing an immediate improvement in gait pattern, when the feedback was provided. Different feedbacks modulated neural activities at different locations and/or levels during training. Alpha event-related synchronization (ERS) was particularly increased during the encoding of auditory feedback or the introduction of a distracting task. In the meantime, prominent frontal and posterior theta ERS were coupled with negative feedback, and strong beta event-related desynchronization (ERD) was observed only in sessions with feedbacks. Our results indicate that feedback effectively enhances motor planning when acquiring a new gait.

INTRODUCTION Laparoscopic gastrectomy revolutionised the management of gastric cancer, yet its oncologic equivalency and safety in treating advanced gastric cancer (especially that in smaller centres) has remained controversial because of the extensive lymphadenectomy and learning curve involved. This study aimed to compare outcomes following laparoscopic versus open gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer at a regional institution in Hong Kong. METHODS Fifty-four patients who underwent laparoscopic gastrectomy from January 2009 to March 2017 were compared with 167 patients who underwent open gastrectomy during the same period. All had clinical T2 to T4 lesions and underwent curative-intent surgery. The two groups were matched for age, sex, American Society of Anaesthesiologists class, tumour location, morphology, and clinical stage. The endpoints were perioperative and long-term outcomes including survival and recurrence. RESULTS All patients had advanced gastric adenocarcinoma and received D2 lymph node dissection. No between-group differences were demonstrated in overall complications, unplanned readmission or reoperation within 30 days, 30-day mortality, margin clearance, rate of adjuvant therapy, or overall survival. The laparoscopic approach was associated with less blood loss (150 vs 275 mL, P=0.018), shorter operating time (321 vs 365 min, P=0.003), shorter postoperative length of stay (9 vs 11 days, P=0.011), fewer minor complications (13% vs 40%, P

This study examined the age-related subsequent memory effect (SME) in perceptual and semantic encoding using event-related potentials (ERPs). Seventeen younger adults and 17 older adults studied a series of Chinese characters either perceptually (by inspecting orthographic components) or semantically (by determining whether the depicted object makes sounds). The two tasks had similar levels of difficulty. The participants made studied or unstudied judgments during the recognition phase. Younger adults performed better in both conditions, with significant SMEs detected in the time windows of P2, N3, P550, and late positive component (LPC). In the older group, SMEs were observed in the P2 and N3 latencies in both conditions but were only detected in the P550 in the semantic condition. Between-group analyses showed larger frontal and central SMEs in the younger sample in the LPC latency regardless of encoding type. Aging effect appears to be stronger on influencing perceptual than semantic encoding processes. The effects seem to be associated with a decline in updating and maintaining representations during perceptual encoding. The age-related decline in the encoding function may be due in part to changes in frontal lobe function.

Comparing early- and late-onset blindness in individuals offers a unique model for studying the influence of visual experience on neural processing. This study investigated how prior visual experience would modulate auditory spatial processing among blind individuals. BOLD responses of early- and late-onset blind participants were captured while performing a sound localization task. The task required participants to listen to novel “Bat-ears” sounds, analyze the spatial information embedded in the sounds, and specify out of 15 locations where the sound would have been emitted. In addition to sound localization, participants were assessed on visuospatial working memory and general intellectual abilities. The results revealed common increases in BOLD responses in the middle occipital gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, precuneus, and precentral gyrus during sound localization for both groups. Between-group dissociations, however, were found in the right middle occipital gyrus and left superior frontal gyrus. The BOLD responses in the left superior frontal gyrus were significantly correlated with accuracy on sound localization and visuospatial working memory abilities among the late-onset blind participants. In contrast, the accuracy on sound localization only correlated with BOLD responses in the right middle occipital gyrus among the early-onset counterpart. The findings support the notion that early-onset blind individuals rely more on the occipital areas as a result of cross-modal plasticity for auditory spatial processing, while late-onset blind individuals rely more on the prefrontal areas which subserve visuospatial working memory.

Taxi drivers play an important role in providing safe and professional public transport services. However, they tend to be more involved than other professional driver groups in accidents caused by deliberate recklessness. This study used an event-related potential (ERP) experiment to examine risk-taking behavior arising from impulsivity by comparing the underlying neural processes of taxi drivers with and without traffic offence records in Hong Kong. A sample of 15 traffic offenders and 15 nonoffenders, matched by sociodemographic characteristics, was recruited. The results show that the offender group demonstrated significantly less negative-going (less negative) feedback-related negativity but more positive-going (more positive) feedback-related P300 when than with their nonoffending counterparts. These findings show that taxi drivers with traffic offence records were less sensitive to the consequences of behavior and more attuned to the magnitude of potential reward. In addition, behavioral data revealed that they were more willing to make risky decisions. All these characteristics pertain to impulsive personality traits. Based on these findings, we can conclude that the offenders in this sample were more impulsive than their nonoffending counterparts.

This study explored the relationship of mindfulness trait with the early and late stages of affective processing, by examining the two corresponding ERP components, P2 and LPP, collected from twenty-two male Chinese participants with a wide range of meditation experiences. Multiple regression analyses was performed on the mindfulness scores, as measured by CAMS-R, with the subjective affective ratings and ERP data collected during an emotion processing task. The results showed that increased mindfulness scores predicted increased valence ratings of negative stimuli (less negative), as well as increased P2 amplitudes at the frontocentral location for positive compared to negative stimuli. Based on these findings, a plausible mechanism of mindfulness in reducing negativity bias was discussed. Moreover, our results replicated previous findings on the age-related increase of P2 amplitudes at the frontal sites for positive compared to neutral stimuli. Since the locations at which P2 amplitudes were found as associated with age and mindfulness differed, as did the emotional contents of the stimuli being compared, indicating that the effect of age did not confound our findings on mindfulness and the two factors might operate on early affective processing from distinct sources and mechanisms.

This study aimed to differentiate perceptual and semantic encoding processes using subsequent memory effects (SMEs) elicited by the recognition of orthographs of single Chinese characters. Participants studied a series of Chinese characters perceptually (by inspecting orthographic components) or semantically (by determining the object making sounds), and then made studied or unstudied judgments during the recognition phase. Recognition performance in terms of d -prime measure in the semantic condition was higher, though not significant, than that of the perceptual condition. The between perceptual-semantic condition differences in SMEs at P550 and late positive component latencies (700–1000 ms) were not significant in the frontal area. An additional analysis identified larger SME in the semantic condition during 600–1000 ms in the frontal pole regions. These results indicate that coordination and incorporation of orthographic information into mental representation is essential to both task conditions. The differentiation was also revealed in earlier SMEs (perceptual>semantic) at N3 (240–360 ms) latency, which is a novel finding. The left-distributed N3 was interpreted as more efficient processing of meaning with semantically learned characters. Frontal pole SMEs indicated strategic processing by executive functions, which would further enhance memory.

Previous studies have shown that two components of event-related potentials, the feedback negativity (FN) and P300, respond to feedback information of reward and penalty. The present study investigated the response of FN and P300 to neutral (neither reward nor penalty) outcome in an EEG level control task. Reward, penalty and neutral feedbacks were presented to participants randomly. The results showed that FN and P300 responded to the outcome information in a similar way. Both of them differed between reward condition and non-reward condition (penalty as well as neutral). It was noteworthy that neutral feedback elicited similar FN and P300 as penalty in amplitude, latency and scalp topography. This result may support an emotional-motivational mechanism that underlies a rapid but coarse early evaluation of the outcome information.

r r Abstract: Cross-modal processing enables the utilization of information received via different sensory organs to facilitate more complicated human actions. We used functional MRI on early-blind individuals to study the neural processes associated with cross auditory-spatial learning. The auditory signals, con- verted from echoes of ultrasonic signals emitted from a navigation device, were novel to the participants. The subjects were trained repeatedly for 4 weeks in associating the auditory signals with different distan- ces. Subjects' blood-oxygenation-level-dependent responses were captured at baseline and after training using a sound-to-distance judgment task. Whole-brain analyses indicated that the task used in the study involved auditory discrimination as well as spatial localization. The learning process was shown to be mediated by the inferior parietal cortex and the hippocampus, suggesting the integration and binding of auditory features to distances. The right cuneus was found to possibly serve a general rather than a spe- cific role, forming an occipital-enhanced network for cross auditory-spatial learning. This functional net- work is likely to be unique to those with early blindness, since the normal-vision counterparts shared activities only in the parietal cortex. Hum Brain Mapp 00:000-000, 2011. V C 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Previous neuroimaging studies have suggested that the neural activity associated with truthful recall, with false memory, and with feigned memory impairment are different from one another. Here, we report a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study that addressed an important but yet unanswered question: Is the neural activity associated with intentional faked responses and with errors differentiable? Using a word list learning recognition paradigm, the findings of this mixed event-related fMRI study clearly indicated that the brain activity associated with intentional faked responses was different to the activity associated with errors committed unintentionally. For intentional faked responses, significant activation was found in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, the posterior cingulate region, and the precuneus. However, no significant activation was observed for unintentional errors. The results suggest that deception, in terms of feigning memory impairment, is not only more cognitively demanding than making unintentional errors but also utilizes different cognitive processes.

Postexercise cold water immersion has been advocated to athletes as a means of accelerating recovery and improving performance. Given the effects of cold water immersion on blood flow, evaluating in vivo changes in tissue oxygenation during cold water immersion may help further our understanding of this recovery modality. This study aimed to investigate the effects of cold water immersion on muscle oxygenation and performance during repeated bouts of fatiguing exercise in a group of healthy young adults. Twenty healthy subjects performed 2 fatiguing bouts of maximal dynamic knee extension and flexion contractions both concentrically on an isokinetic dynamometer with a 10-min recovery period in between. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a cold water immersion (treatment) or passive recovery (control) group. Changes in muscle oxygenation were monitored continuously using near-infrared spectroscopy. Muscle performance was measured with isokinetic dynamometry during each fatiguing bout. Skin temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle soreness ratings were also assessed. Repeated measures ANOVA analysis was used to evaluate treatment effects. The treatment group had a significantly lower mean heart rate and lower skin temperature compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Cold water immersion attenuated a reduction in tissue oxygenation in the second fatiguing bout by 4% when compared with control. Muscle soreness was rated lower 1 day post-testing (P < 0.05). However, cold water immersion had no significant effect on muscle performance in subsequent exercise. As the results show that cold water immersion attenuated decreased tissue oxygenation in subsequent exercise performance, the metabolic response to exercise after cold water immersion is worthy of further exploration.

Event-related potentials (ERP) are in general masked by various kinds of artifacts. To attenuate the effects of artifacts, various schemes have been introduced, such as epoch rejection, electro-oculogram (EOG) regression and independent component analysis (ICA). However, none of the existing techniques can automatically remove various kinds of artifacts from a single ERP epoch. EOG regression cannot handle artifacts other than ocular ones. ICA incorporating higher order statistics (HOS) normally requires data with large number of time samples in order that the solution is robust. In this paper we blindly separate the multi-channel ERP into source components by estimating the correlation matrices of the data. Since only second order statistics (SOS) is involved, the process performs well at the single epoch level. Automatic artifact identification is performed in the source domain by introducing objective criteria for various artifacts. Criteria are based on time domain signal amplitude for blink and spurious peak artifact, scalp distribution of signal power for eye movement artifact and power distribution of frequency components for muscle artifact. The correction procedure can be completed by removing the identified artifactual sources from the raw multi-channel ERP.

Multi-channel recording of electroencephalogram (EEG) provides a measure of spatial-temporal pattern of cognitive processes. When oscillatory activities are going to be studied, the time-domain EEG signal can be analyzed via Fourier or wavelet transform. However the loss of temporal information after Fourier transform and the unavailability of phase information in wavelet transform limit their applicability in EEG analysis. In this paper, multi-channel Fourier packet transform is introduced. The algorithm resembles the wavelet packet transform by its binary tree search for an optimal selection of orthogonal basis, but extends the application to the multi-channel scenario. It aims to provide a sparse signal representation to localize features in the spatial-spectral-temporal domain. Since the decomposed atoms are spatially coherent components, analysis of time-varying synchrony across scalp locations is then possible.

ERP is commonly obtained by averaging over segmented EEC epochs. In case artifacts are present in the raw EEC measurement, pre-processing is required to prevent the averaged ERP waveform being interfered by artifacts. The simplest pre-processing approach is by rejecting trials in which presence of artifact is detected. Alternatively artifact correction instead of rejection can be performed by blind source separation, so that waste of ERP trials is avoided. In this paper, we propose a second order statistics based blind source separation approach to ERP artifact correction. Comparing with blind separation using independent component analysis, second order statistics based method does not rely on higher order statistics or signal entropy, and therefore leads to more robust separation even if only short epochs are available.

Introduction Research has shown that people with chronic pain have difficulty directing their attention away from pain. A mental strategy that incorporates focused attention and distraction has been found to modulate the perception of pain intensity. That strategy involves placing attention on the nociceptive stimulus felt and shifting attention to a self-generated sub-nociceptive image and rehearsing it. Event-related potential was used to study the possible processes associated with the focus-then-orient strategy. Methods Eighteen pain-free participants received different levels of 50-ms nociceptive stimulations elicited by electric shocks at the right lateral malleolus (ankle). In perception trials, participants maintained the perceived nociceptive stimulus in working memory for 3,000 ms. In imagery trials, participants mentally generated and maintained the corresponding sub-nociceptive image they had learned previously. After both types of trials, participants evaluated the pain intensity of the incoming stimulus by recalling the feeling of the nociceptive stimulation at the beginning of the trial. Results Shifting attention from the incoming nociceptive to a self-generated sub-nociceptive image elicited central P2 and centro-parietal P3 waves, which were found to correlate with proportional scores on the Stroop Test. They were followed by a frontal N400 and a parietal P600, denoting generation of sub-nociceptive images in working memory. The voltages elicited in these potentials correlated moderately with attenuation of the pain ratings of the recalled nociceptive stimulations. Conclusions Focus-and-orient attention across nociceptive and sub-nociceptive images appears to be related to response inhibition. Mental rehearsal of the sub-nociceptive images was found to modulate the perception of the nociceptive sensation felt prior to the imagery. Such modulation seems to be mediated by generating and maintaining sub-nociceptive images in working memory. Future studies should explore the mental processes associated with orienting attention for pain modulation among people with pathological pain and frontal lobe dysfunction.

Background Lower motor neurons in the spinal cord lose supraspinal inputs after complete spinal cord injury, leading to a loss of volitional control below the injury site. Extensive locomotor training with spinal cord stimulation can restore locomotion function after spinal cord injury in humans and animals. However, this locomotion is non-voluntary, meaning that subjects cannot control stimulation via their natural “intent”. A recent study demonstrated an advanced system that triggers a stimulator using forelimb stepping electromyographic patterns to restore quadrupedal walking in rats with spinal cord transection. However, this indirect source of “intent” may mean that other non-stepping forelimb activities may false-trigger the spinal stimulator and thus produce unwanted hindlimb movements. Methods We hypothesized that there are distinguishable neural activities in the primary motor cortex during treadmill walking, even after low-thoracic spinal transection in adult guinea pigs. We developed an electronic spinal bridge, called “Motolink”, which detects these neural patterns and triggers a “spinal” stimulator for hindlimb movement. This hardware can be head-mounted or carried in a backpack. Neural data were processed in real-time and transmitted to a computer for analysis by an embedded processor. Off-line neural spike analysis was conducted to calculate and preset the spike threshold for “Motolink” hardware. Results We identified correlated activities of primary motor cortex neurons during treadmill walking of guinea pigs with spinal cord transection. These neural activities were used to predict the kinematic states of the animals. The appropriate selection of spike threshold value enabled the “Motolink” system to detect the neural “intent” of walking, which triggered electrical stimulation of the spinal cord and induced stepping-like hindlimb movements. Conclusion We present a direct cortical “intent”-driven electronic spinal bridge to restore hindlimb locomotion after complete spinal cord injury.