Using magnetic fields, scientists can activate specific brain cells in mice and make them run, spin and freeze, new research shows.
This could help scientists pinpoint the specific brain circuits animals use for certain behaviors, which could in turn help scientists pinpoint with greater accuracy which brain areas are involved in those same behaviors in humans, said Arnd Pralle, a biophysicist at the University at Buffalo in New York.
The main goal is to develop tools that can help scientists study the brains of laboratory animals to see how they encode emotions and behaviors, Pralle told Live Science. "We can translate a lot of that to human brains," he added. [Top 10 Mysteries of the Mind]
Scientists have used implanted electrodes to control the movement and thoughts of monkeys, while others have genetically engineered brain circuits that turn on with a beam of laser light. Brain implants have even allowed one monkey to control the movements of another, a 2014 experiment found. However, those methods involve either implanting electrodes into the brain or hard-wiring a bulky cable into the brain. But those procedures can do damage to the animals, and essentially keeps them tethered to a cable all the time, Pralle said.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation, meanwhile, is FDA-approved to treat depression that does not respond to medication, but it acts on a wide area of the brain and is not targeted to specific networks. Scientists, however, still don"t fully understand why it works, Pralle said.
No comments:
Post a Comment