Post by Admin on Dec 5, 2020 14:27:10 GMT
Mapping the mind with nanotechnology
The Brain Initiative is combining neuroscience with nanotechnology in the world's biggest project to understand the mind. By Katharine Sanderson
www.theguardian.com/what-is-nano/mapping-the-mind-with-nanotechnology
In April this year President Obama announced a hugely ambitious science project, the "Brain" Initiative (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies). Obama was giving his support, and the promise of hard cash – $100m (£65m) in 2014 and up to billions of dollars in total – to a project that will last at least 10 years. The aim is to unpick exactly what goes on in the brain at the level of individual neurons, to see how the human brain deals with emotions, memories, actions, and consciousness.
To understand these complex phenomena, it turns out that nanotechnology is going to be crucial. "The brain has always been nano," says Paul Weiss, a nanoscientist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and one of the original instigators of the project. The brain's 100m neurons, and 100tn connections all work over nanometres, so to study the brain on its own scale nano-sized measuring techniques are absolutely necessary. But many of the technologies and tools that will be needed to probe the brain haven't even been dreamed up yet. Nanotechnologists need to get busy.
Sep 05, 2019
The future of mind control
(Nanowerk News) Electrodes implanted in the brain help alleviate symptoms like the intrusive tremors associated with Parkinson's disease. But current probes face limitations due to their size and inflexibility. "The brain is squishy and these implants are rigid," said Shaun Patel. About four years ago, when he discovered Charles M. Lieber's ultra-flexible alternatives, he saw the future of brain-machine interfaces.
In a recent perspective in Nature Biotechnology ("Precision electronic medicine in the brain"), Patel, a faculty member at the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, and Lieber, the Joshua and Beth Friedman University Professor, argue that neurotechnology is on the cusp of a major renaissance.
www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news2/newsid=53537.php
The Brain Initiative is combining neuroscience with nanotechnology in the world's biggest project to understand the mind. By Katharine Sanderson
www.theguardian.com/what-is-nano/mapping-the-mind-with-nanotechnology
In April this year President Obama announced a hugely ambitious science project, the "Brain" Initiative (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies). Obama was giving his support, and the promise of hard cash – $100m (£65m) in 2014 and up to billions of dollars in total – to a project that will last at least 10 years. The aim is to unpick exactly what goes on in the brain at the level of individual neurons, to see how the human brain deals with emotions, memories, actions, and consciousness.
To understand these complex phenomena, it turns out that nanotechnology is going to be crucial. "The brain has always been nano," says Paul Weiss, a nanoscientist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and one of the original instigators of the project. The brain's 100m neurons, and 100tn connections all work over nanometres, so to study the brain on its own scale nano-sized measuring techniques are absolutely necessary. But many of the technologies and tools that will be needed to probe the brain haven't even been dreamed up yet. Nanotechnologists need to get busy.
Sep 05, 2019
The future of mind control
(Nanowerk News) Electrodes implanted in the brain help alleviate symptoms like the intrusive tremors associated with Parkinson's disease. But current probes face limitations due to their size and inflexibility. "The brain is squishy and these implants are rigid," said Shaun Patel. About four years ago, when he discovered Charles M. Lieber's ultra-flexible alternatives, he saw the future of brain-machine interfaces.
In a recent perspective in Nature Biotechnology ("Precision electronic medicine in the brain"), Patel, a faculty member at the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, and Lieber, the Joshua and Beth Friedman University Professor, argue that neurotechnology is on the cusp of a major renaissance.
www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news2/newsid=53537.php