"A radical new approach to imaging brain function and neural activity"
26/10/2015
As part of the US government’s BRAIN Initiative Middlesex University is helping develop a pioneering new technology to revolutionise the way brain activity is measured
The human brain remains one of the biggest mysteries in
science, but the way we understand it could be revolutionised in the coming
years if a pioneering new project is successful.
Monitoring
activity and interconnectivity in real-time throughout the brain is essential
to progress our understanding of a wide range of brain diseases and mental
disorders, but existing methods for non-invasive brain monitoring are limited
in either their spatial (EEG, MEG) or temporal (fMRI, PET) resolution.
Another
approach known as electrical impedance tomography (EIT) detects neural activity
by measuring small changes in impedance within the brain via scalp electrodes
– but an inability to control the injected current's path through the brain produces
a noisy and imprecise estimate of neural activity.
To address
this limitation, a project run by US not-for-profit research and development
company Draper Laboratories in consultation with Middlesex University is
seeking to develop a technology which can steer the current through the brain
and potentially revolutionise the field of neuroscience in the process.
"The potential is that we will be able to measure neural
activity in real-time to have a better understanding of how the brain's
interconnectedness works. This will then lead on to a better understanding of
mental disorders, diseases and so on."
Adopting a technique
used in particle accelerators to control the path of charged particles, Draper Laboratories
and Middlesex University will introduce a magnetic field to essentially direct
the current through the brain and provide a far more accurate reflection of
neural activity.
"We
are trying to get better tools to understand how the brain works and we want to
know fundamentally how the brain functions at the electrical level," says Prof
Bayford.
"To do this we need to understand not just the energy that
goes to it – the blood and oxygen that fuels the system – but how the
communication and electrical activity functions, how the brain interconnects,
deals with solving problems, deals with neural plasticity when you have a
stroke and so on."
In turn, Prof Bayford says that discoveries made during this
project will be taught to the School of Science and Technology's neuroscience
and neurophysiology students.
"It is my strong belief that our research should underpin
our teaching so this project will be seeded in to our courses," he adds.
"It's important students aren't just taught to learn facts,
but also to be able to evolve and adapt to new technologies that will have a
major impact on how they work in the future."
Image: Professor Richard Bayford in the laboratories at Middlesex University.
"A radical new approach to imaging brain function and neural activity"
Monitoring activity and interconnectivity in real-time throughout the brain is essential to progress our understanding of a wide range of brain diseases and mental disorders, but existing methods for non-invasive brain monitoring are limited in either their spatial (EEG, MEG) or temporal (fMRI, PET) resolution.
Another approach known as electrical impedance tomography (EIT) detects neural activity by measuring small changes in impedance within the brain via scalp electrodes – but an inability to control the injected current's path through the brain produces a noisy and imprecise estimate of neural activity.
To address this limitation, a project run by US not-for-profit research and development company Draper Laboratories in consultation with Middlesex University is seeking to develop a technology which can steer the current through the brain and potentially revolutionise the field of neuroscience in the process.
"This is a radical new approach to imaging brain function and neural activity," explains Professor Richard Bayford of Middlesex University's Biophysics and Bioengineering Research Group.
"The potential is that we will be able to measure neural activity in real-time to have a better understanding of how the brain's interconnectedness works. This will then lead on to a better understanding of mental disorders, diseases and so on."
Adopting a technique used in particle accelerators to control the path of charged particles, Draper Laboratories and Middlesex University will introduce a magnetic field to essentially direct the current through the brain and provide a far more accurate reflection of neural activity.
"We are trying to get better tools to understand how the brain works and we want to know fundamentally how the brain functions at the electrical level," says Prof Bayford.
"To do this we need to understand not just the energy that goes to it – the blood and oxygen that fuels the system – but how the communication and electrical activity functions, how the brain interconnects, deals with solving problems, deals with neural plasticity when you have a stroke and so on."
In turn, Prof Bayford says that discoveries made during this project will be taught to the School of Science and Technology's neuroscience and neurophysiology students.
"It is my strong belief that our research should underpin our teaching so this project will be seeded in to our courses," he adds.
"It's important students aren't just taught to learn facts, but also to be able to evolve and adapt to new technologies that will have a major impact on how they work in the future."
Image: Professor Richard Bayford in the laboratories at Middlesex University.