It is reported that researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have developed a new use of 'brain chip' technology: to test the impact of biological and chemical agents on the brain over time.
The research was published in the PLoS One journal in November 2017. The study is an important part of a research effort to develop 'brain-chip' technology that researchers hope will no longer be available on one day in the future Animal experiments related to neurological diseases.
The so-called 'chip brain' technology is essentially a network of researchers building semiconductor wafers with nanowires. When brain cells are introduced into the chip, they can use nanowires as scaffolds to build functional neuronal circuits that mimic the brain Neurons interconnect Once the simulated brain circuit is built, researchers can not only visualize neuronal connectivity, but also study the effects of disease and trauma on them.
It is reported that researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have developed a new use of 'brain chip' technology to test the effects of biological and chemical agents on the brain over time.
Researchers at the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) at Harvard University pioneered the use of this 'chip brain' device in research in January 2017. The chip device enables researchers to determine the location of neurons in the brain based on neuronal location And the connection between different neurons to identify the differences between neurons, especially for schizophrenia and other diseases in the neurological basic level of research and analysis.
Researchers at ANU later improved the architecture of the nanowires to develop the first ever-working neuron circuit, and the latest applied research from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found that the technology could be used for research Long-term effects of biological and chemical agents on the brain.
Currently, the research team focuses mainly on the chemical exposures that military personnel may experience, and as a result of the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder, military personnel have become the most interested population of patients in neurological research.
Brain response to chemicals
In their research, researchers focused on using their 'brain chip' to study how brain cells are affected by a large number of chemicals, and how these agents alter brain research over time. Understand the existing mechanisms to develop appropriate antidotes, treat or prevent patients and, in reality, protect military personnel and other groups.
The 'brain chip' device used by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory team has been tailor-made for specific inserts that allow them to model different areas of the brain and to study the interconnectivity of the areas as needed Researchers can place many different types of neuronal cells in a much smaller area than ever before, allowing for easy transitions between 'macrocosm to microcosm'.
With this facility, research teams can monitor brain cell outbreaks (called 'action potential patterns') as they communicate and let them know how this interconnection changes over time, especially when the brain is exposed In the case of chemical reagents, how to react.