Tag: neuroscience

Elon Musk’s Neuralink looking for people to trial its brain-computer chip

Elon Musk’s neurotechnology company Neuralink has opened the application process for people who want to be implanted with its brain-computer interface device, despite criticism over its safety

Musk has previously claimed that his BCI ‘will enable someone with paralysis to use a smartphone with their mind’ (Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk’s neurotechnology company Neuralink has revealed it is looking for people to trial its brain-computer chip, despite fierce criticism of its ‘deadly’ animal tests.

The company got the green light from an independent review board to start their brain-computer interface testing on people suffering from paralysis from from cervical spinal cord injuries or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Musk has previously claimed that his BCI “will enable someone with paralysis to use a smartphone with their mind faster than someone using thumbs.”

He and his company will now initiate recruitment for the first human trial of its brain implant, but neither stated the number of participants to be enrolled in the trial, which is expected to span approximately six years. During the study, a robot will implant the chip in a brain region responsible for the intention to move. Musk’s aim is for the person’s thoughts to control a computer cursor or keyboard.

Source : https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/elon-musks-neuralink-looking-people-30983996

Strange ‘Hybrid’ Brain Cells Have Been Discovered Hiding Inside Our Heads

An astrocyte. (Ed Reschke/Getty Images)

An international team of scientists has found a whole new brand of brain cell hiding amongst neurons and their supporting units.

Surprisingly, the new cell type has characteristics of both, allowing it to serve an active role in neurological functions while still providing assistance to the nervous tissues around it.

Astrocytes are abundant cells in the brain that wrap around neuronal connections like ‘glue’. For many years, neuroscientists assumed these cells were wholly passive, present only to protect neurons.

The field was revolutionized when evidence arose that astrocytes may contribute to neuronal ‘firing’ by secreting glutamate, the brain’s main neurotransmitter.

But while studies in the lab suggest astrocytes are capable of releasing and absorbing glutamate, their role in a living, healthy brain is still being investigated.

In exploring that hypothesis further, researchers from various institutions in the United Kingdom and Europe have stumbled upon a radical hybrid cell in the brains of mice.

“In between neurons and astrocytes, we now have a new kind of cell at hand,” says pharmacologist Andrea Volterra from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland (UCIL)

“Its discovery opens up immense research prospects.”

Using single-cell RNA-sequencing, Volterra and his colleagues identified nine distinct clusters of astrocytes in the brain’s hippocampus.

Cluster number 7 stood out. It was localized to very discrete parts of the brain’s hippocampus, and possessed all the molecular machinery necessary to package up glutamate for release.

Source: https://www.sciencealert.com/strange-hybrid-brain-cells-have-been-discovered-hiding-inside-our-heads

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