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DRAFTING.- Scientists from the Institute of Biomedical Neuroscience (BNI) of the University of Chile are working on an in vitro neuron culture project, with the aim of building a cyborg for fight against neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease.
Research, in which three BNI laboratories work, has been used to develop neuronal cultures that, thanks to electrodes, make it possible to direct the movements of a vehicle in a virtual environment, Dr. Efe said. Rodrigo Vergara, who directs the study. The neuron cultures, he described, are a circuit in which the neurons are immersed in a liquid located on an electrode grid, which in turn is connected to a virtual environment housed in a computer.
In the field, the cells are able to control a cart through stimulation of the electrodes, learning to avoid blows against obstacles, he added. [19659002] It should be noted that the cybernetic mixture of cybernetic elements with neural networks is defined as the only living organism.
"The main challenge of the project is to develop what we call an in vitro protocol of behavior, which means that these behaviors are not contained by a living being, but are planted in neuronal cultures connected to a mechanical device" said Rodrigo Vergara.
The above means "literally build a cyborg to generate behaviors, lending to neurons are a body for a displacement," he said.
He added that, unlike artificial intelligence, where no living tissue is involved and where a computer learns a protocol, the cyborg represents the interaction between a living tissue.
Thus, the particular implications of this research are related to "the applied use of the brain-machine interface and its transfer to studies on the search for therapies for neurodegenerative diseases" ", he explained.
mammals can have spontaneous activity and thanks to this, when they are placed in a culture, apart from a living organism and connected via electrodes to a vehicle in a virtual environment, can generate a displacement.
The car is equipped with a motion sensor that provides information to the neurons, which allows, when it is stimulated by the electrodes, the culture.Change the behavior of the mobile, avoiding obstacles
"The wheels move according to the activity of the electrode, but if we introduce information from the sensor, when approaching an object, we can code r a message back and stimulate the electrodes to move them in another direction, "he said.
"So, at some point in the process, culture learns not to crush: it detects the obstacle, it stops and continues," he added. ] The virtual environment is built using a software developed by Dr. Cristóbal Moene, with which it is even possible to change the surface on which the vehicle moves, recording all its movements. This ability is what could be transferred for peripheral or intracranial cerebral stimulation in the treatment of diseases such as Parkinson's disease.
In the case of this disease, says Vergara, one can "record the activity of neurons and, according to this, to stimulate better results regarding their symptomatology, by inducing or eliminating activities."
He warned that getting answers of this type "would be much harder in a complete brain", but that they "trust" in this, at the end of research, to obtain information to support studies on neurodegenerative diseases. "
He notes that the mechanisms involved in how the brain learns behavior are not addressed today. Thus, "from the basic science, we want to solve how we can learn to trolley to not break down, because this information is quickly transferable to how we can stimulate parki symptoms Another disease that requires peripheral stimulation of
Up to now, "many stimulations have been tested, but the question is how long is it done," he said.
"Up to now, we have observed that a closed pacing circuit is generated and with the protocol we have managed to understand what changes are occurring in the neural network during this stimulation" said Vergara.
BNI studies are supported by researchers from the Universities of Columbia, Edinburgh, and the Imperial College of London, who collaborate in areas such as stimulation, neural behavior, and high-complexity mathematics. EFE
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