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SUMMARY:Neurotechnology: from curing the brain to understanding the mind
DTSTART:20140109T123000
DTEND:20140109T133000
DTSTAMP:20260509T014958Z
UID:67aace8098e45ce0be263e6ea84df2a7aae3cc799628c4d261125707
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof John P. Donoghue\, Director of the Brown Institute for B
 rain Science\, Brown University\nBio: Prof. Donoghue earned his B.A. in Bi
 ology at Boston University in 1972. He earned his M.S. in Anatomy at the U
 niversity of Vermont in 1976. He earned his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Brown
  University in 1979.\nHis laboratory investigates how the brain turns thou
 ght into voluntary behaviors and how that knowledge can be used to help pe
 rsons with paralysis. He studies how populations of neurons represent and 
 transform information as a motor plan becomes movement. This approach has 
 required the creation of a novel recording array to study neural ensembles
 . With the knowledge he has gained about movement representation\, he has 
 translated his lab’s findings to a clinical application in which humans 
 with paralysis can use their neurons directly to control devices.\nNeural 
 Engineering is a rapidly expanding field creating neurotechnology to resto
 re lost functions like movement\, vision or hearing.  These brain interfa
 ces\, some now regularly implanted to treat brain disorders\, are also pro
 viding unprecedented access to the human brain to understand its function 
 at new levels of detail. In my presentation\, I will first discuss the ran
 ge of existing and emerging neurotechnologies and then describe my group
 ’s progress in creating a useful brain computer interface (BCI) to resto
 re independence\, communication and control for people with paralysis.  A
  BCI provides a new communication channel to bypass damaged motor pathways
  from the brain. BrainGate\, the first intracortical BCI system in a human
  clinical pilot trial\, is being developed by our group at Brown Universit
 y and Massachusetts General Hospital.  The goal of BrainGate is to restor
 e functions performed by the arm and hand for people with paralysis.  Bra
 inGate employs a 4 x 4 mm array of 100 microelectrodes that is chronically
  implanted into the motor cortex (MI) arm area.  This intracortical senso
 r is intended to provide longterm access to MI neural ensemble activity as
  a direct source of action command signals.  Decoded signals\, provided b
 y MI activity when the user thinks about moving their arm\, can be used by
  people with longstanding paralysis to control computer cursors and roboti
 c arms.  Our work has also revealed several important fundamental aspects
  of human motor cortex function.  First\, local MI regions form integrate
 d reach and grasp networks.  Second\, MI networks can be engaged merely b
 y imagining actions without performing them.  Third\, neural circuits ret
 ain a relationship to arm actions years after paralysis onset\, suggesting
  that representational plasticity does not occur.  Creating flexible\, lo
 ng-lasting BCIs for people with paralysis will require optimization of sen
 sors\, fully implanted wireless systems\, and better understanding of the 
 neural processes encoding arm action. These steps\, which are well underwa
 y\, have the potential to create a useful BCI able to restore reach\, gras
 p and dexterous manipulation for humans with paralysis of their arm. They 
 will also continue to provide insight into human brain function at the cel
 l ensemble scale and open new directions for neural interfaces to be used 
 to detect and treat a variety of human brain disorders.
LOCATION:SV1717a http://plan.epfl.ch/?room=SV%201717A
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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