The brain on a microchip
 http://www.ucalgary.ca/news/feb04/brain-on-microchip2.html

February 19, 2004

We have the technology.

To control artificial limbs. To restore sight for people who are
visually impaired. To revive memory function. To construct a computer
with a sense of smell, sight and hearing like that of a tiger.

It sounds like science fiction. But these things are all possible when
scientists can implant a microchip that communicates with your brain.

A researcher at the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine has
taken a crucial step in this direction. Naweed Syed, PhD, and his
European colleagues have released a landmark study in the international
journal Physical Review Letters. For the first time ever, the scientists
prove that it is possible to cultivate a network of brain cells that
reconnect on a silicon chip.

"The nerve cells not only regenerate their synaptic connections on the
silicon chip but also exhibit memory traces that were successfully read
by the chip," says Syed, PhD, a neurobiologist at the University of
Calgary Faculty of Medicine. "We've made a giant leap in answering
several fundamental questions of biology and neuro-electronics that will
pave the way for us to harness the power of nano-technology."

In collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in
Munich, Germany, Syed's team cultured nerve cells from a snail and
placed them on a specially designed silicon chip. Using a microcapacitor
on the chip, the scientists stimulated one nerve cell to communicate
with a second cell which, in turn, transmitted that signal to multiple
cells within the network. A transistor located on the chip then recorded
that conversation between cells.

"We discovered that when we used the chip to stimulate the neurons,
their synaptic strength was enhanced. This finding tells us that these
neurons are exhibiting signs of learning and memory," says Syed, PhD, an
Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research / Canadian Institutes
of Health Research Scientist.

"This intriguing study is an important step to link physical and
biological circuits together," says Michael Fainzilber, PhD, senior
scientist, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. "These findings will
help us to design devises that combine electronic components and brain
cells - devices that may restore brain function, for example in people
with impaired vision."

Future research in this area will focus on interfacing silicon chips
with the human brain to control artificial limbs, restore brain
function, return sight to people with impaired vision, and develop
"thinking" computers.

This research was funded by the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical
Research, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Natural
Science and Engineering Research Council.

Background available on request.

For more information please contact Naweed Syed, PhD, 403-220-5479,
[log in to unmask]



Karen Thomas
Director, Media Relations
Faculty of Medicine
University of Calgary

tel 403-220-2431
email [log in to unmask]