Neural Pixel

Our understanding of the brain progresses rapidly. We started to understand that the brain has some functional areas, each controlling a certain part of the body, then we discovered areas where processing of certain data streams occur, like visual, aural…. and then areas where some cognitive processing takes place. 
We are now getting closer to identify neural circuits where specific activities take place. And we are starting to learn how to "intrude" in these circuits to alter their processing. 
Advances in both knowledge and technology are fuelling this making the goal of interacting with a single neurone to alter some undesired behaviour without affecting other behaviours. 
Researchers at the Linköping University in Sweden in cooperation with colleagues in France have managed to create a neurone size implant that acts both as a sensor and as a releaser of a specific drug (GABA) to block an epileptic attack even before its symptoms starts.
The researchers have been using a polymer that has a 10 times better conductivity than gold (which is already better than copper) as sensing part and an organic electronic ion pump to release GABA molecules. This system has been proven very effective when implanted in a mouse hippocampus slice of brain. The GABA molecules reach the targeted neurone quickly without affecting nearby ones.
Of course it remains the issue of implanting it precisely in the right place (and in turns to know where is the "right" place). According to the researchers it may take ten more years to have this result used in human brains. The difficulties ahead are huge, but just five years ago nobody would have dreamed that something like this could a day become possible.

About Roberto Saracco

Roberto Saracco fell in love with technology and its implications long time ago. His background is in math and computer science. Until April 2017 he led the EIT Digital Italian Node and then was head of the Industrial Doctoral School of EIT Digital up to September 2018. Previously, up to December 2011 he was the Director of the Telecom Italia Future Centre in Venice, looking at the interplay of technology evolution, economics and society. At the turn of the century he led a World Bank-Infodev project to stimulate entrepreneurship in Latin America. He is a senior member of IEEE where he leads the New Initiative Committee and co-chairs the Digital Reality Initiative. He is a member of the IEEE in 2050 Ad Hoc Committee. He teaches a Master course on Technology Forecasting and Market impact at the University of Trento. He has published over 100 papers in journals and magazines and 14 books.