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Frontiers of Engineering Reports on Leading-Edge Engineering from the 2017 Symposium (2018) / Chapter Skim
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Technologies to Interface with the Brain for Recording and Modulation - Ellis Meng
Pages 51-56

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From page 51...
... Scaling of such technologies to acquire data from large numbers of neurons remains a challenge, as is the long-term stability of the recording interface, which is susceptible to foreign body response. The goal of advancing interface technologies is both to better understand proper functioning of the brain and to address a variety of neurological, neuro­ degenerative, psychiatric, and neuromuscular conditions and deficits.
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From page 52...
... Signal transmission between two neurons connected by such a chemical synapse goes from electrical to chemical to electrical, where electrical signaling involves the movement of ions and not electrons. It is possible to modulate this natural activity using artificial stimuli such as electrical current or chemical agents.
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From page 53...
... The foundations of bioelectricity and electrophysiology were laid much later in experiments conducted by Luigi Galvani in the 1780s, in which dead frog's leg muscles moved in response to current applied to nerves via metal wires, a phenomenon dubbed "animal electricity." With the discovery of the effects of electricity on the human body (often the investigator's own body) , "medical electricity" research commenced shortly thereafter (Bresadola 1998)
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From page 54...
... Because electrical stimulation indiscriminately activates nearby neurons and produces a large artifact that interferes with recording, its use in understanding brain activity and therapy is limited; but lowering the electrode area to minimize activation proportionately increases the input charge densities and the risk of tissue damage. Electrical stimulation is unable to inhibit activity.
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From page 55...
... Nanoscale transducers introduced into brain tissue can modulate brain activity through the conversion of optical, acoustic, and magnetic stimulation into voltage or electric fields. These nanotransducers include quantum dots, gold nanoparticles, up-conversion nanoparticles, and magnetic nanoparticles.
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From page 56...
... 2017. A materials roadmap to functional neural interface design.
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Key Terms

  • brain stimulation
  • ion channels
  • brain activity
  • magnetic stimulation
  • electrical interfaces

  • deep brain
  • neural activity
  • functional neural
  • nonelectrical interfaces
  • luigi galvani

  • active neurons
  • electrochemical gradient
  • cell membrane
  • interface technologies
  • single unit

  • electrically active
  • transcranial magnetic
  • measurable electrochemical
  • action potentials
  • single neuron

  • chemical agents
  • electrical signaling
  • brain tissue
  • single neurons
  • modulate brain

  • cortical brain
  • unlike electrical
  • brain strongly
  • electrical current
  • integrate neural


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