Restoring Function by Merging Brain and Technology

Can a paralyzed person with a tiny electrode array implanted in the brain operate a robotic arm simply by thinking? Find out on Monday, April 16 at 4:30 pm in the Staller Center at Stony Brook University when the Swartz Foundation Mind Brain Lecture Series presents guest lecturer John P. Donoghue, PhD, the Henry Merritt Wriston Professor of Neuroscience and Engineering and Director of the Institute for Brain Science at Brown University, and a Senior Research Scientist in the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Donoghue will discuss BrainGate™, a groundbreaking human neural interface that is designed to restore useful functions for people with paralysis.

The lecture, “The Human Neural Interface: Restoring Function by Merging Brain and Technology,” is intended for a general audience and free and open to the public. The Mind Brain Lecture Series is sponsored by Stony Brook University and its Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, and by the Swartz Foundation, which supports research at five centers for theoretical neuroscience.

Dr. Donoghue's laboratory builds on pioneering research in neurotechnology, which is emerging at a rapid pace with a goal to treat brain disorders or restore lost function. Brown University, which has established a team of internationally recognized scientists and engineers in this emerging field, seeks to develop brain-machine interfaces, like BrainGate™, that could restore independence to paralyzed humans and potentially augment human capabilities.

BrainGate™, a device currently undergoing pilot clinical trials as an investigational device, is a human neural interface system that provides a new connection from the brain to the outside world for people who have lost that connection from a stroke, spinal cord injury or disease. BrainGate™ consists of a tiny sensor implanted in the motor cortex that detects patterns of neural activity that reflect the person’s motor intentions. “These patterns can be converted into movement command signals so that a person who is paralyzed can directly control devices like a computer or a robotic arm,” said Dr. Donoghue.

In the human clinical trial, BrainGate™ has been tested in people who have longstanding, severe paralysis and have lost use of their arms. “In our initial studies these participants have been able to move a computer cursor to play a video game, and operate a robotic limb by imagining their own arm’s actions,” said Dr. Donoghue.

In the lecture, Dr. Donoghue will also explain how it is possible to detect and decode motor signals from the human brain and discuss the future implications of neurotechnology that can “read out” or “write into” brain circuitry. He will also share what his team is learning about human brain function by being able to observe its activity at a resolution never before achieved.

The lecture can also be viewed live via podcast. Please call (631) 632-7238 for a disability-related accommodation.

Provided by Stony Brook University