A chip to repair the brain

Subject: A chip to repair the brain Sun Sep 16, 2012 9:28 pm

Scientists have designed a brain implant that sharpened decision making and restored lost mental capacity in monkeys, providing the first demonstration in primates of the sort of brain prosthesis that could eventually help people with damage from dementia, strokes or other brain injuries.

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The device, though years away from commercial development, gives researchers a model for how to support and enhance fairly advanced mental skills in the frontal cortex of the brain, the seat of thinking and planning.

The new report appeared on Thursday in the Journal of Neural Engineering.

In just the past decade, scientists have developed brain implants that improve vision or allow disabled people to use their thoughts to control prosthetic limbs or move computer cursors. The new paper, led by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and the University of Southern California, describes a device that improves brain function internally, by fine-tuning communication among neurons.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/a-chip-to-repair-the-brain-20120916-25ztk.html#ixzz26gbi9w7i

A chip to repair the brain

A chip to repair the brain

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