In an experiment straight out of a spy movie, researchers have managed to modify the brains of fruit flies so that they perform a specific action within a second of sending a command to some of their neurons.
Bug hack
Jacob Robinson and his colleagues at Rice University began by genetically modifying insects to express a heat-sensitive ion channel (produced using iron oxide nanoparticles injected into the brain and exposed to a magnetic field) in some of their neurons. When the temperature increases, the latter opens and activates the neuron, causing the fly to partially spread its wings (a common mating gesture).
In order to test their approach, the researchers placed these genetically modified flies in a small enclosure above which was an electromagnet. Analysis of the images captured by their cameras showed that when the magnetic field was activated, the insects spread their wings in about half a second, a control speed approaching that of the brain.
” To study the brain or treat neurological disorders, it is essential to have tools that are both very precise and minimally invasive “, explain the authors of the study, published in the journal Nature Materials. ” The remote and real-time control of certain neural circuits by means of magnetic fields is in a way the holy grail of neurotechnologies. By significantly reducing the reaction time, this work brings us closer to. »
A vast project
These experiments are part of a much larger project, which aims in particular to use this type of approach to improve or restore the vision of patients with visual impairmentsessentially bypassing the eyes via direct stimulation of their visual cortex.
Similar methods had previously been used to control the movements of rodents, with the aim of improving the treatment of motor problems of neurological origin.
The objectives of DARPA, which funds the project, turn out to be very different and rather frightening. Ultimately, the American agency responsible for developing new technologies for military use would like to design a helmet capable of reading the neuronal activity of a person’s brain and encoding it in that of another. In other words: transfer their thoughts and perceptions.
[related_posts_by_tax taxonomies=”post_tag”]
The post Scientists ‘hack’ the brains of flies and fly them remotely appeared first on Gamingsym.