NOBEL CONFERENCE, 47 - THE BRAIN AND BEING HUMAN - Gustavus Adolphus College
Dr. John Donoghue is the Henry Merritt Wriston Professor at the Department of Neuroscience and Director of the Institute for Brain Science at Brown University in Providence, R. I.
After watching his 2009 60 Minutes segment from the Nobel Conference website,I learned a little about his research on brain-computer interfaces and the Brain Gate project.
Dr. Donoghue began his ten AM lecture by talking about the Age of Neurotechnology, and gave Minnesota credit for the pacemaker and Medtronics. He spoke about cochlear implants for the deaf using hairs to transfer messages to the brain, restoring sight to blind people through deep brain stimulation, a project also having Minnesota roots. His interactive visuals mainly focused on the BrainGate project which gives a gate from the brain to the outside world for people who have lost movement in their limbs. Donoghue stressed that BrainGate is not magic, but combines science, engineering and medicine. It merges mind to machine. Part of the brain is given a task to control muscles that are laid out in a pattern. The clinical trials began in 2004 with five patients. In his presentation at Gustavus, Donoghue focused on two of the patients. Wireless sensors were used to put technology on a person. The goal was to restore functions that were lost. Although some of the early work may now seem "primitive", it will be interesting to follow the progress as the technology in neuroscience advances. Dr. Donoghue encouraged us to write to our Congressmen to continue to fund neuroscience.
