Traditional visual cortical prosthetics based on electrical stimulation have induced percepts low in spatial resolution and devoid of rich visual features. Here, using pulsed infrared neural stimulation (INS), a method that evokes perceived phosphenes in alert monkeys, we have developed an approach with the submillimeter spatial precision needed for interfacing with cortical columns. We delivered INS through a linear optic fiber array in anesthetized cat visual cortex and monitored effects by optical imaging in contralateral visual cortex. INS modulation of response to ongoing visual oriented gratings produced enhanced responses in orientation-matched domains and reduced response in non-matched domains. This oriented response is a higher order, integrated effect. Controls included dynamically applied speeds, directions and patterns of multipoint stimulation. This provides groundwork for a conceptually and technologically new generation of BMI, one based in the columnar code of visual featural perception.
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