Lifeboat Foundation

The dramatic advances in efferent neural interfaces over the past decade are remarkable, with cortical signals used to allow paralyzed patients to control the movement of a prosthetic limb or even their own hand. However, this success has thrown into relief, the relative lack of progress in our ability to restore somatosensation to these same patients. Somatosensation, including proprioception, the sense of limb position and movement, plays a crucial role in even basic motor tasks like reaching and walking. Its loss results in crippling deficits. Historical work dating back decades and even centuries has demonstrated that modality-specific sensations can be elicited by activating the central nervous system electrically. Recent work has focused on the challenge of refining these sensations by stimulating the somatosensory cortex (S1) directly. Animals are able to detect particular patterns of stimulation and even associate those patterns with particular sensory cues. Most of this work has involved areas of the somatosensory cortex that mediate the sense of touch. Very little corresponding work has been done for proprioception. Here we describe the effort to develop afferent neural interfaces through spatiotemporally precise intracortical microstimulation (ICMS). We review what is known of the cortical representation of proprioception, and describe recent work in our lab that demonstrates for the first time, that sensations like those of natural proprioception may be evoked by ICMS in S1. These preliminary findings are an important first step to the development of an afferent cortical interface to restore proprioception.

Keywords: Intracortical microstimulation (ICMS); Prosthesis; Somatosensation; Somatosensory cortex.

PubMed Disclaimer

Brain-inspired hardware emulates the structure and working principles of a biological brain and may address the hardware bottleneck for fast-growing artificial intelligence (AI). Current brain-inspired silicon chips are promising but still limit their power to fully mimic brain function for AI computing. Here, we develop Brainoware, living AI hardware that harnesses the computation power of 3D biological neural networks in a brain organoid. Brain-like 3D in vitro cultures compute by receiving and sending information via a multielectrode array. Applying spatiotemporal electrical stimulation, this approach not only exhibits nonlinear dynamics and fading memory properties but also learns from training data. Further experiments demonstrate real-world applications in solving non-linear equations. This approach may provide new insights into AI hardware.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the future of human life across various real-world fields such as industry, medicine, society, and education¹. The remarkable success of AI has been largely driven by the rise of artificial neural networks (ANNs), which process vast numbers of real-world datasets (big data) using silicon computing chips ^{2, 3}. However, current AI hardware keeps AI from reaching its full potential since training ANNs on current computing hardware produces massive heat and is heavily time-consuming and energy-consuming ^{4– 6}, significantly limiting the scale, speed, and efficiency of ANNs. Moreover, current AI hardware is approaching its theoretical limit and dramatically decreasing its development no longer following ‘Moore’s law’^{7, 8}, and facing challenges stemming from the physical separation of data from data-processing units known as the ‘von Neumann bottleneck’^{9, 10}. Thus, AI needs a hardware revolution^{8, 11}.

A breakthrough in AI hardware may be inspired by the structure and function of a human brain, which has a remarkably efficient ability, known as natural intelligence (NI), to process and learn from spatiotemporal information. For example, a human brain forms a 3D living complex biological network of about 200 billion cells linked to one another via hundreds of trillions of nanometer-sized synapses^{12, 13}. Their high efficiency renders a human brain to be ideal hardware for AI. Indeed, a typical human brain expands a power of about 20 watts, while current AI hardware consumes about 8 million watts to drive a comparative ANN⁶. Moreover, the human brain could effectively process and learn information from noisy data with minimal training cost by neuronal plasticity and neurogenesis,^{14, 15} avoiding the huge energy consumption in doing the same job by current high precision computing approaches^{12, 13}.

In a recent study published in Neuron, researchers discovered that microglia, the brain’s immune cells, use tunneling nanotubes…

Scheiblich et al. uncover a novel mechanism by which microglia use tunneling nanotubes to connect with α-syn-or tau-burdened neurons, enabling transfer of these proteins to microglia for clearance. Microglia donate mitochondria to restore neuronal health, shedding light on new therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative diseases.

Nano-MIND Technology for Wireless Control of Brain Circuits with Potential to Modulate Emotions, Social Behaviors, and Appetite.

Researchers at the Center for Nanomedicine within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Yonsei University in South Korea have unveiled a groundbreaking technology that can manipulate specific regions of the brain using magnetic fields, potentially unlocking the secrets of high-level brain functions such as cognition, emotion, and motivation. The team has developed the world’s first Nano-MIND (Magnetogenetic Interface for NeuroDynamics) technology, which allows for wireless, remote, and precise modulation of specific deep brain neural circuits using magnetism.

The human brain contains over 100 billion neurons interconnected in a complex network. Controlling the neural circuits is crucial for understanding higher brain functions like cognition, emotion, and social behavior, as well as identifying the causes of various brain disorders. Novel technology to control brain functions also has implications for advancing brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), such as those being developed by Neuralink, which aim to enable control of external devices through thought alone.

Continue reading “New Technology to Control the Brain Using Magnetic Fields Developed” »

In a scientific breakthrough, an international research team from Korea’s IBS Center for Quantum Nanoscience (QNS) and Germany’s Forschungszentrum Jülich developed a quantum sensor capable of detecting minute magnetic fields at the atomic length scale. This pioneering work realizes a long-held dream of scientists: an MRI-like tool for quantum materials.

The research team utilized the expertise of bottom-up single-molecule fabrication from the Jülich group while conducting experiments at QNS, utilizing the Korean team’s leading-edge instrumentation and methodological know-how to develop the world’s first quantum sensor for the atomic world.

The diameter of an atom is a million times smaller than the thickest human hair. This makes it extremely challenging to visualize and precisely measure physical quantities like electric and magnetic fields emerging from atoms. To sense such weak fields from a single atom, the observing tool must be highly sensitive and as small as the atoms themselves.

In 2021, the same collaborators developed the technology that acts as an active spin filter made of two successive layers of material, called chiral hybrid organic-inorganic halide perovskites. Chirality describes a molecule’s symmetry, where its mirror image cannot be superimposed on itself. Human hands are the classic example; hold yours out, palms facing away. The right and left hands are arranged as mirrors of one another—you can flip your right hand 180° to match the silhouette, but now the right palm is facing you while the left palm faces away. They’re not the same.

Some molecules, such as DNA, sugar and layers of chiral hybrid organic-halide perovskites, have their atoms arranged in chiral symmetry. The filter works by using a “left-handed” oriented chiral layer to allow electrons with “up” spins to pass, but block electrons with “down” spins, and vice versa. At the time, the scientists claimed the discovery could be used to transform conventional optoelectronics into spintronic devices simply by incorporating the chiral spin filter. The new study did just that.

“We took an LED from the shelf. We removed one electrode and put the spin filter material and another regular electrode. And voila! The light was highly circularly polarized,” said Vardeny.

During the hot summer of 2020, confined to his Pasadena home during the COVID-19 pandemic, National Medal of Science-winning applied physicist Amnon Yariv took frequent and long showers to cool off. A surprising result, to go with his record-breaking water bill, was a proposal and theoretical model for a new class of vibrations that can convert a constant force, such as wind or water, to a mechanical oscillation.

A novel quantum sensor with exceptional resolution transforms atomic-level material analysis, paving the way for advancements in quantum technologies and sciences.

In a scientific breakthrough, an international research team from Germany’s Forschungszentrum Jülich and Korea’s IBS Center for Quantum Nanoscience (QNS) developed a quantum sensor capable of detecting minute magnetic fields at the atomic length scale. This pioneering work realizes a long-held dream of scientists: an MRI-like tool for quantum materials.

Quantum Sensor Development

A loss of controlled inhibition of overly excited brain cells might explain how a common knock-out anesthesia drug works.

A new animal study led by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has found that propofol, a sedative used to safely lull people into unconsciousness for medical procedures, disrupts the brain’s normal ability to regain control of highly excitable neurons.

“The brain has to operate on this knife’s edge between excitability and chaos,” explains MIT neuroscientist and senior study author Earl Miller.