March 28, 2006
An Interface Between Neurons and Silicon Chips
European researchers have created an interface between mammalian neurons and silicon chips. The development is a crucial first step in the development of advanced technologies that combine silicon circuits with a mammal’s nervous system. Professor Stefano Vassanelli, a molecular biologist with the University of Padua in Italy working with the NACHIP project, funded under the European Commission’s Future and Emerging Technologies initiative describes that the goal was to develop a working interface between the living tissue of individual neurons and the inorganic compounds of silicon chips.
With the help of German microchip company Infineon, NACHIP placed 16,384 transistors and hundreds of capacitors on a chip just 1mm squared in size. The group had to find appropriate materials and refine the topology of the chip to make the connection with neurons possible.
Biologically NACHIP uses special proteins found in the brain to essentially glue the neurons to the chip. These proteins act as more than a simple adhesive and provided the link between ionic channels of the neurons and semiconductor material in a way that neural electrical signals could be passed to the silicon chip. Once there, that signal can be recorded using the chip's transistors. What's more, the neurons can also be stimulated through the capacitors. This is what enables the two-way communications.
The project tested the device by stimulating the neurons and recording which ones fired using standard neuroscience techniques while tracking the signals coming from the chip. The next step is to explore how to communicate with the neurons using genes. According to Vassanelli, "genes are where memory comes from, and without them you have no memory or computation. We want to explore a way to use genes to control the neuro-chip."
Earlier study by Vassanelli in the Journal of Neuroscience
March 27, 2006
The Future of Computing - 2020
The Journal Nature presents a special review of the Future of Computing. According to the introduction, "in the last two decades advances in computing technology, from processing speed to network capacity and the internet, have revolutionized the way scientists work. From sequencing genomes to monitoring the Earth's climate, many recent scientific advances would not have been possible without a parallel increase in computing power - and with revolutionary technologies such as the quantum computer edging towards reality, what will the relationship between computing and science bring us over the next 15 years?"
It is available for free access and includes topics such as:
Milestones in scientific computing
Science in an exponential world
Can computers help explain biology?
A two-way street to science's future
And lots more...
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Podcast Available
Nature 2020 – Future of Computing
March 26, 2006
fMRI Technology and Marketing Psychology
In the first study to use fMRI to evaluate which brain regions are activated in response to the qualities of commercial brands and products, researchers from the University of Michigan and Harvard University found some interesting results. Carolyn Yoon and colleagues, discovered that even though companies will use identical vocabularies to describe both people and products, consumers evaluate objects from people differently.
Subjects were given 450 adjectives such as "reliable," "sophisticated," and "cheerful." They were scanned while indicating whether each word was applicable to themselves and someone else. The sample group was also scanned while making similar judgments about brands they know and use. The researchers discovered that even when the consumers were judging products on unmistakably human terms, they still used the part of the brain associated with inanimate objects.
According to the scientists, "although we may use similar vocabularies to describe people and products, we can't say that the same concepts are involved. Companies building brand images and icons should be wary of taking the legitimately useful metaphor of brand personality too literally, since it's now apparent that consumers themselves do not."
As much as marketers would like us to anthropomorphize particular products to make them more attractive or endearing, our brains help us maintain a critical approach to what we see.
A Marketing Approach
Confirmation of this concept comes from the marketing world. In an article discussing the psychology of branding, the author states that consumers are cynical about ads since they are bombarded by thousands of ads each day and people are more aware that they are being sold something. Humor as a marketing tool is a wonderful emotion to tap into. However, humorous ads are troubling because you have to create a link to the product and its benefit. Often, people remember a funny ad but they don't remember the product. Also ads with imagery of happy, peppy people are not going to make people less cynical no matter how marketers spin it.
Brand Loyalty: The Psychology of Preference (pdf)
Journal of Economic Psychology
Are Brands Human?
(A Brand Consulting Weblog)
March 23, 2006
Can Cellphones Really Harm People In Hopitals?
According to Roy Soto an anesthesiologist at Stony Brook University Hospital on Long Island, N.Y, this is the stuff of 'urban myth' with no basis in science. Can a cell phone conversation kill a person on a ventilator or send a patient with a pacemaker into cardiac arrest?
Many hospitals around the world ban use of wireless devices, fearing disruption of vital medical equipment. Dr Soto searched the scientific literature to find why anti-mobile phone warnings are so pervasive. He found no basis for prohibition.
Like any legend, those involving cell phone use in hospitals are based on a kernel of truth. Hospital administrators have prohibited mobile phones because of concerns about electromagnetic interference. But Soto found the only genuine problem involved using a phone behind a ventilator. If answered near the breathing machine's on-off switch, the ventilator shuts off.
Pagers remain the communication device of choice in hospitals. Soto said, because "pagers are passive receptive devices,. they don't put out any power, whereas your cell phone, when you hit the send button or answer button, emits energy, and that's electromagnetic energy. According to Dr Soto,"it's crazy when you think about this urban myth of cell phones harming people with pacemakers. Guess what? There are a lot of people with pacemakers walking around talking on cell phones."
He is in the process of conducting a study to develop a sense of how doctors themselves communicate in hospitals, and whether older communication systems are more likely to result in errors.
March 16, 2006
Implantable Wireless Device Delivers Drugs
According to a recent study published in he Nature Biotechnology journal, researchers for the first time have successfully tested an implantable microchip device that is wirelessly activated to deliver controlled drug doses into the body over a prolonged time period.
The technology is from Microchips, a company that specializes in implantable drug delivery and biosensors. It is expected to be most effective in delivering proteins, small molecules and other drugs that are highly potent, have limited stability and need to be delivered in precise doses at exact times. The system is unique in its use of wireless signaling, its small size and its system of reservoirs allowing precise, efficient delivery of solids, liquids or gels. The implantable drug delivery system provides doses by the command of a wireless signal.
The scientists began the current research by developing microchips made of silicon, each the size of a postage stamp and containing 100 tiny "wells" or "reservoirs." They filled the reservoirs with a model polypeptide drug known to be poorly absorbed when taken orally. Each reservoir was capped with an electrically erodable membrane made of platinum and titanium. Filled chips were then sealed and connected to a titanium case containing electronic hardware, power and wireless connectivity.
They combined custom software with "off-the shelf" electronic components and a handheld wireless communication device for use in sending data back and forth.