The dream of using signals from the brain to restore motor control in people with paralysis or amputation is getting closer to reality. Electrodes that monitor or send signals to neurons in the brain have been reduced in size until they are no bigger than the neurons themselves, and arrays can interface with hundreds of individual neurons.
The course will discuss this area of research and highlight one such application, where 8-µm carbon electrodes implanted in the finger control areas of the brain are being developed to control movement of individual fingers. Cynthia Chestek, instructor, is an associate professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan, where she runs the Cortical Neural Prosthetics Laboratory. This Study Group is for those 50 and over and meets Tuesday, 1:30–3:00 pm on October 29.