Ed Boyden Assistant Professor, MIT Media Lab, MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and MIT Biological Engineering is speaking this morning at the H- plus conference at Harvard.
Controlling Brain Circuits with Light
The brain is three-dimensional and densely-wired with billions of heterogeneous computational primitives. Understanding how these elements work in real time to mediate behavior and consciousness, and how they are compromised in neural pathology, is a top priority. We have recently revealed methods for real-time optical activation and silencing of specific cell types in the brain, using naturally-occurring molecular sensitizers such as channelrhodopsin-2, halorhodopsin, and archaerhodopsin. Building off of these molecular tools, we also have created optical hardware and algorithms for systematically testing the contribution of brain regions, cell types, and circuit connections to behavioral functions. We are also working on noninvasive methods of information delivery to the brain. We discuss the application of these technologies to the analysis of neural dynamics, as well as to translation for new treatments for human disease, and eventually towards augmentation of the human condition.
Later:
Noah Goodman
MIT, Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
(Reverse) Engineering Intelligence:
Logic , Statistics, and Flexible Thought