| The consequences of sensory or motor system dysfunction might be mitigated, at least partially, if one could chronically record neural activity from large numbers of sensory or motor neurons, and/or electrically activate in a selective fashion, large numbers of such neurons. The use of new, high electrode count, arrays of electrodes that have been designed to penetrate into sensory and motor centers in the central and peripheral nervous system are beginning to make this possible. This seminar will describe potential applications of this technology to profound sensory loss, blindness, and to profound motor impairment, spinal cord injury. While human experimentation has yet to be performed, experiments conducted in visual cortex, and the dorsal root ganglia in animal models will be described that indicate the therapeutic possibilities of this approach. |
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Cognitive Neuroscience Colloquium: Friday September 7, 2001 1:30-3:00 BSBE 2-101 |