Yep, This is a fascinating item, Meir. I have always been interested in
nanotech.

Mag

Tamar Magenta Raine
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Oakland Mayor's Commission on People with disabilities


> [Original Message]
> From: Meir Weiss <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 2/20/2004 4:57:43 AM
> Subject: The brain on a microchip
>
> 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]