neural-activity

DARPA-funded nonsurgical neurotechnologies push the frontier of brain-machine interfaces

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Cred­it: J Robin­son and Rice University

Rice Uni­ver­si­ty Charges Into the Future with Mag­net­ics and Bioim­plants (All About Circuits):

Advances in self-gen­er­at­ing drug deliv­ery sys­tems, brain-to-brain com­mu­ni­ca­tion, and injury mit­i­ga­tion tech­nolo­gies are just some of the newest research com­ing down the pipeline from Rice University.

Sev­er­al research projects fund­ed by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agen­cy’s (DARPA) N3 pro­gram might her­ald a future of high­ly advanced human-machine inter­fac­ing that expands the capa­bil­i­ties of sol­diers and first respon­ders. [Read more…] about DARPA-fund­ed non­sur­gi­cal neu­rotech­nolo­gies push the fron­tier of brain-machine interfaces

Wearable brain scanners to enable broader, easier, cheaper access to neuroimaging

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Cred­it: Uni­ver­si­ty of Nottingham

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This Brain Scan­ner Is Way Small­er Than fMRI but Some­how 1,000% Creepi­er (Giz­mo­do):

“It may look like some­thing befit­ting Halloween’s Michael Myers, but the device pic­tured above is actu­al­ly a break­through in neuroscience—a portable, wear­able brain scan­ner that can mon­i­tor neur­al activ­i­ty while a per­son is mov­ing [Read more…] about Wear­able brain scan­ners to enable broad­er, eas­i­er, cheap­er access to neuroimaging

Study issues warning: Opioid inhibitor naltrexone (often used to treat addictions) can reduce feelings of social connection

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Sci­ence has long known that hav­ing pos­i­tive social con­nec­tion is impor­tant to a hap­py and healthy life. But less is under­stood about how our brains sup­port and encour­age con­nect­ing with others.

While pri­or research has sug­gest­ed oxy­tocin plays a role in nur­tur­ing and trust­ing oth­ers, there­by strength­en­ing social bonds, many researchers also sus­pect that brain opi­oids are impor­tant to social con­nec­tion. [Read more…] about Study issues warn­ing: Opi­oid inhibitor nal­trex­one (often used to treat addic­tions) can reduce feel­ings of social connection

The National Science Foundation (NSF) funds Neurotechnology Hubs and innovative tools to advance research on Brain & Behavior

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– Cor­nell Uni­ver­si­ty neu­ro­sci­en­tist Chris Xu will study how brains pro­duce behav­ior in species across a range of sizes.

NSF issues awards to advance a nation­al research infra­struc­ture for neu­ro­science (press release by the Nation­al Sci­ence Foundation):

“The Nation­al Sci­ence Foun­da­tion (NSF) has made 17 Next Gen­er­a­tion Net­works for Neu­ro­science (Neu­roNex) awards to aid the research com­mu­ni­ty as it pur­sues one of its grand­est chal­lenges: under­stand­ing the brain.

These projects will sup­port the devel­op­ment of inno­v­a­tive, acces­si­ble and shared capa­bil­i­ties and resources, as well as the­o­ret­i­cal frame­works and com­pu­ta­tion­al mod­el­ing to advance neu­ro­science research [Read more…] about The Nation­al Sci­ence Foun­da­tion (NSF) funds Neu­rotech­nol­o­gy Hubs and inno­v­a­tive tools to advance research on Brain & Behavior

Minimizing negative side-effects from electromagnetic neural stimulation: Key neurotechnology patent #39

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neural stimulation system
– Illus­tra­tive image from U.S. Patent No. 7,831,305

Today we high­light a 2010 patent by Advanced Neu­ro­mod­u­la­tion Sys­tems address­ing a seri­ous con­cern dur­ing the use of elec­tro­mag­net­ic brain stim­u­la­tion methods–where unin­tend­ed stim­u­la­tion of neu­rons can cause seizures or migraine headaches.

U.S. Patent No. 7,831,305: Neur­al stim­u­la­tion sys­tem and method respon­sive to col­lat­er­al neur­al activity

  • Assignee(s): Advanced Neu­ro­mod­u­la­tion Sys­tems, Inc.
  • Inventor(s): Brad­ford E. Gliner
  • Tech­nol­o­gy Cat­e­go­ry: Tran­scra­nial Stimulation
  • Issue Date: Novem­ber 9, 2010

SharpBrains’ Take:

The ‘305 patent address­es a phe­nom­e­non occur­ring dur­ing elec­tro­mag­net­ic stim­u­la­tion treat­ments of neu­ro­log­i­cal con­di­tions, where unin­tend­ed stim­u­la­tion of neu­rons can cause unde­sir­able or col­lat­er­al activ­i­ty such as seizures or migraine headaches. [Read more…] about Min­i­miz­ing neg­a­tive side-effects from elec­tro­mag­net­ic neur­al stim­u­la­tion: Key neu­rotech­nol­o­gy patent #39

Monitoring and stimulating brain activity to achieve desired brain state: Key Neurotech Patent #10

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brain state
– Illus­tra­tive image from U.S. Patent No. 6,488,617

Today we are shar­ing a 2002 patent describ­ing a sys­tem link­ing brain sig­nal detec­tion to brain stim­u­la­tion techniques.

U.S. Patent No. 6,488,617: Method and device for pro­duc­ing a desired brain state

  • Assignee(s): Uni­ver­sal Hedonics
  • Inventor(s): Bruce F. Katz
  • Tech­nol­o­gy Cat­e­go­ry: Hybrid
  • Issue Date: Decem­ber 3, 2002

SharpBrains’ Take:

The ‘617 patent describes a sys­tem link­ing brain sig­nal detec­tion to brain stim­u­la­tion tech­niques with the pur­pose of achiev­ing a desired brain state. [Read more…] about Mon­i­tor­ing and stim­u­lat­ing brain activ­i­ty to achieve desired brain state: Key Neu­rotech Patent #10