The goal of this study is to determine the intentional movement direction based on the neural signals recorded from the motor cortex using optical brain imaging techniques. Towards this goal, we developed a cross-correlation analysis technique to determine the movement direction from the hemodynamic signals recorded from the motor cortex. Healthy human subjects were asked to perform a two-dimensional hand movement in two orthogonal directions while the hemodynamic signals were recorded from the motor cortex simultaneously with the movements. The movement directions were correlated with the hemodynamic signals to establish the cross-correlation patterns of firings among these neurons. Based on the specific cross-correlation patterns with respect to the different movement directions, we can distinguish the different intentional movement directions between front-back and right-left movements. This is based on the hypothesis that different movement directions can be determined by different cooperative firings among various groups of neurons. By identifying the different correlation patterns of brain activities with each group of neurons for each movement, we can decode the specific movement direction based on the hemodynamic signals. By developing such a computational method to decode movement direction, it can be used to control the direction of a wheelchair for paralyzed patients based on the changes in hemodynamic signals recorded using non-invasive optical imaging techniques.