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MIT Shows How to Shut Down Brain With Light

Posted by samzenpus on from the men-in-black dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The MIT home-page story today is about a way to use light to shut down brain activity. "Scientists at the MIT Media Lab have invented a way to reversibly silence brain cells using pulses of yellow light, offering the prospect of controlling the haywire neuron activity that occurs in diseases such as epilepsy and Parkinson's disease."

10 of 223 comments (clear)

  1. There are easier ways by joe_cot · · Score: 5, Funny

    There are easier ways to shut down brain activity. 4chan comes to mind.

    1. Re:There are easier ways by drwiii · · Score: 5, Funny

      Rule 1 violation.

  2. Who wants to bet... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...that this is actually a plan to invent the Neuralizer from Men in Black?

  3. Finally! by Steve--Balllmer · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... a scientific reason why we /.ers should not leave the darkness of our parents' basements and our computer monitors, and continue to avoid the dreaded realm known as "outside".

  4. Slight problem with their idea... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful
    According to the article:

    When neurons are engineered to express the halorhodopsin gene, the researchers can inhibit their activity by shining yellow light on them. Light activates the chloride pumps, which drive chloride ions into the neurons, lowering their voltage and silencing their firing. So, if we genetically engineer some people with Parkinson's or epilepsy to have these halorhodopsin neurons, we can give them a normal life as long as we find a way to shine light directly into their brains?
  5. Politics by nagora · · Score: 5, Funny

    Expect to see a lot of yellow lights at party rallies from now on...

    --
    "Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
  6. Hooray! by mikkelm · · Score: 5, Funny

    Finally I can get a pair of tinfoil shades to go with my hat.

  7. Another ,,, by BlueTrin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Another sexist topic about blonde girls !

    --
    Don't you know it is now both immoral and criminal to think beyond the next quarterly report?
  8. Requires halorhodopsin gene by sshore · · Score: 5, Interesting

    According to the article, the yellow light "silences" neurons that have been engineered to include the halorhodopsin gene found in certain bacteria. The light doesn't have the same effect on the neurons that you'd typically find in your skull.

    I'm not sure how this would be used clinically to treat epilepsy. Perhaps by introducing the genes into cells in the affected area using a retrovirus?

  9. If yellow light shuts down brain cells... by SethHoyt · · Score: 5, Funny

    Could this explain why when a traffic light turns yellow, nobody seems to notice it?