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Neural Prosthetic Acts Like "Bridge" Over Damaged Brain Areas

Posted by samzenpus on from the spanning-the-gap dept.

the_newsbeagle writes "If you can't fix it, go around it. That's the thinking behind an experimental treatment for traumatic brain injury. Using an implanted microdevice, researchers recorded the electrical signals from a sensory region of a rat's brain, skipped over a damaged brain region that typically processes sensory information, and sent the electric signals on to the premotor cortex. This cyborg mouse could then move normally. What this means is that we're getting better at speaking the brain's language — even if we don't understand it, we can mimic it."

1 of 54 comments (clear)

  1. Bridge Over Damaged Cortex by mbstone · · Score: 5, Funny

    When you're dimwitted
    Feeling dumb
    When circuits in your brain
    Make your mind go numb

    I'm in your head
    When dendrites are dead
    And neurons can't be found
    Here's a bridge over damaged cortex
    Now your mind is sound
    Here's a bridge over damaged cortex
    Now your mind is sound

    When your motor nerves
    Trip you on your feet
    When your amygdala fails
    And can't comfort you

    I'll cure your rats
    Who can't get fat
    When pellets are all around
    Here's a bridge over damaged cortex
    Now your mind is sound
    Here's a bridge over damaged cortex
    Now your mind is sound