NSUU: Brain neuroprosthetic technology

2023: Technology Development

In October 2023, the Nizhny Novgorod State University. Lobachevsky (NNSU) announced the development of a technology thanks to which it will be possible to create neuroprostheses to replace damaged areas of the brain. The technology is based on combining artificial and living neurons.

According to TASS, citing the press service of the university, the idea is to connect an artificial nerve pulse generator to a damaged section of the hippocampus (these are brain structures that are responsible for learning, spatial orientation and memory). They would stimulate living neurons and they would send a reverse signal.

Replacing the damaged section of the hippocampus with electronic neurons can not only restore brain activity during injuries, but also improve memory, stimulate learning ability, "said Albina Lebedeva, project leader, associate professor of the Department of Neurotechnologies at Lobachevsky University.

According to her, the technology will help create neuroprostheses to replace damaged areas of the brain, this is an important step towards neurohybridic technologies.

NNSU scientists have already applied artificial neurons to the mouse brain, and the results of the studies were published in the journal Sensors. In addition, such a development can be used to normalize the brain with epilepsy.

Professor of the Madrid Polytechnic University Alexander Pisarchik, who is a scientific consultant to the project, commenting on it, noted that scientists have managed to achieve a real scientific breakthrough. The new technology opens up wide possibilities in the field of neuromorphic applications: from the development of smart and adaptive robots to the creation of revolutionary medical devices for the treatment of neurological diseases, he said.^[1]

Notes