# Moving intentions from brains to machines

Review · Beste C, Slagter HA, Herff C, Kamitani Y, Coninx S, van Wezel R, Frings C

- Archive id: doi:10.1016/j.tics.2025.12.003
- Published: 2026-01-14
- Venue: Trends in cognitive sciences
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.12.003
- PMID: 41539931
- Citations: 3
- Source URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.12.003
- Provenance: europepmc

## Abstract

Brain-computer interface (BCI) research has achieved remarkable technical progress but remains limited in scope, typically relying on motor and visual cortex signals in limited patient populations. We propose a paradigm shift in BCI design rooted in ideomotor theory, which conceptualizes voluntary action as driven by internally represented sensory outcomes. This underused framework offers a principled basis for next-generation BCIs that align closely with the brain's natural intentional and action-planning architecture. We suggest a more intuitive, generalizable, and scalable path by reorienting BCIs around the 'what for' of action-user goals and anticipated effects. This shift is timely and feasible, enabled by advances in neural recording and artificial intelligence-based decoding of sensory representations. It may help resolve challenges of usability and generalizability in BCI design.

_Abstract reproduced under CC-BY (article license as recorded by Europe PMC; abstract reproduced unmodified apart from markup removal)._

Topics: [Brain-Computer Interfaces](https://space-kitty.com/topics/brain-computer-interfaces)

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