Neuro engineers have learned how to program the brain with flashes of light

Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found a way to block and excite the activity of individual neurons of the brain using flashes of yellow and blue. Shine directly through the brain implant LED.

Neuron blocking is carried out thanks to a gene called halorhodopsin (halorhodopsin), discovered in the 80s. Natronomas pharaonis bacteria in the salt water of Lake Utah. This gene is responsible for light-sensitive protein, which acts as a chloride pump, essential for the life of bacteria. Scientists from MIT managed to activate this gene in the neurons of the human brain.

The new discovery makes it possible in the future to implant in the human brain optical microchips for controlling brain activity. Such "brain LEDs" will be tested already this year in transgenic mice. The study is carried out with the money of an anonymous sponsor.

In the future, brain LEDs may become universal. If yellow light blocks brain activity, then blue light, on the contrary, excites neurons. Perhaps someday people will be able to effectively suppress depression or to excite pleasure centers in themselves by simply pressing a button on the remote control to a particular LED.
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The illustration shows how blue and yellow light affects the activity of neurons.



via MIT News Office