[news] Brain Cells Fused with Computer Chip.

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mizx

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Not sure if this is the correct forum for this, but we don't have a straight up technology in genral forum, so this seemed the best place to put it.

http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060327_neuro_chips.html
The line between living organisms and machines has just become a whole lot blurrier. European researchers have developed "neuro-chips" in which living brain cells and silicon circuits are coupled together.

The achievement could one day enable the creation of sophisticated neural prostheses to treat neurological disorders or the development of organic computers that crunch numbers using living neurons.

To create the neuro-chip, researchers squeezed more than 16,000 electronic transistors and hundreds of capacitors onto a silicon chip just 1 millimeter square in size.

They used special proteins found in the brain to glue brain cells, called neurons, onto the chip. However, the proteins acted as more than just a simple adhesive.

"They also provided the link between ionic channels of the neurons and semiconductor material in a way that neural electrical signals could be passed to the silicon chip," said study team member Stefano Vassanelli from the University of Padua in Italy.

The proteins allowed the neuro-chip's electronic components and its living cells to communicate with each other. Electrical signals from neurons were recorded using the chip's transistors, while the chip's capacitors were used to stimulate the neurons.

It could still be decades before the technology is advanced enough to treat neurological disorders or create living computers, the researchers say, but in the nearer term, the chips could provide an advanced method of screening drugs for the pharmaceutical industry.

"Pharmaceutical companies could use the chip to test the effect of drugs on neurons, to quickly discover promising avenues of research," Vassanelli said.

The researchers are now working on ways to avoid damaging the neurons during stimulation. The team is also exploring the possibility of using a neuron's genetic instructions to control the neuro-chip.
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edit: in before the Borg jokes and Ghost in the Shell references
 
we will add your biological and technological distinctivness to our own......

interesting story, my brain could do with more memory, would help me pass exams more often. :lol:
 
We have the technology. We will build a smarter, faster, and more crash-ier human.

Now if it could divide by zero, that would be impressive.
 


Hmmm... interesting... this pic was from a paper by the same group from 1999. :ill:

Having a problem with imageshack - won't let me post the thumbnail??
 
Thats crazy, and the picture Touring Mars posted reminds me of the movie "Dreamcatcher" or something. It'll be nice to one day blame our stupidity on a system crash, or even make fun of other people for still running old software.
"Dude, don't talk to him, he's still running v5.1...GET UPGRADE LOSER! HAHAHAHA" :lol:
 
People who are insane get patches! And you'll need an anti-virus program so you don't get sick :lol:.
 
They used special proteins found in the brain to glue brain cells, called neurons, onto the chip. However, the proteins acted as more than just a simple adhesive.
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Sounds more like some kind of crazy h'orderve!
 
Is somebody gonna bust in here like "zOMG! APR!LS FOOZL!" ?

I agree that Microsoft better stay away from these things, however.

Imagine:



"Doctor, it's bluescreen!"
 
Do these scientists ever watch movies? This kind of technology leads to a dystopian society where humans are part machine or have become full-fledged slaves to the machines.

This technology should be destroyed for the benefit of the human race.
 
FoolKiller
Do these scientists ever watch movies? This kind of technology leads to a dystopian society where humans are part machine or have become full-fledged slaves to the machines.
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Yes, but in movies Michael Moore is right, talking cats are commonplace and Tom Cruise isn't a humourless, money-grabbing, publicity-whoring shortarse.
 
Hollywood is nothing to base opinions on... but I see the point you're trying to make FK.


My concern is the greater social stratification the implementation of such technologies into society could potentially create. It's one thing to use it sparingly to repair neurological disorders - that would be effective and responsible usage of such technology, imo. But the science community is not likely to want to limit it in this way.

Everything can be bought for a price. The opportunity for the wealthy and well off to put themselves farther ahead and offer greater opportunities to themselves and their offspring is surely going to be an issue if this technology is developed in that direction.

I hope that this technology is developed solely for use in medicine and not for expanding potential of the human brain.... though, it seems inevitable to me that with further development someone will push for it to be used in that way. Humans have a history of irresponsibly using newly created technologies without giving the inherent social costs their due recognition.

[and ya, this is all very GITS-ish]
 
Boundary Layer
Hollywood is nothing to base opinions on... but I see the point you're trying to make FK.
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Well, it was a joke. Just the first thing I thought of when I heard this was the ability to plug into the Matrix. The thought of Keanu Reeves plugging electrodes into his brain then made me think of Johnny Mnemonic and it all went downhill from there. :)


In reality, as someone who has suffered with the remnants of a stroke for 12 years now, this brings a lot of hope. It may also have good signs in other areas of the medical field. Patients with heart disease can have these kinds of things placed on the neurological receptors within the heart and it could regulate them and help to prevent fibrilation, flutter, and other things brought on by misfiring receptors. They could also work as a defribrilator without the damaging effects of shooting an electrical current through the entire heart.

I already picture my own medical conditions getting better from this kind of thing.

On the other hand I do see people trying to create a permanent memory access type thing where memory loss is cured and everyone has photographic memories.

I can also see military purposes by placing this into soldiers for different various reasons.


I could see this being the first step in leading to the synthetic organs envision in Bicentennial Man. Imagine having organ transplants without a waiting list where a donor availability could mean life or death.

I can let my imagination run wild as to the positive effects of this sort of thing. I just hope my insurance plan will cover it. :sly:
 

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