Different colours of light 'offer new treatment for brain injury'RSS Feed

Harmful brain activity can be shut down using different colours of light, offering the hope of new treatments for brain injury, according to neuroscientists.

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have been studying the principle that brain injury and other disorders, such as epilepsy and Parkinson's disease, may be best treated by silencing brain activity, not stimulating it.

"Using these new tools, we can look at two neural pathways and study how they compute together. These tools will help us understand how to control neural circuits, leading to new understandings and treatments for brain disorders," explained Ed Boyden, senior author of the study.

Mr Boyden is the Benesse career development professor in the MIT Media Lab and an associate member of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT.

The study is to be published in today's (January 7th) issue of the journal Nature.

Other research, published recently in the Journal of Neurosurgery, suggested that hyperbaric oxygen therapy improves recovery in patients with traumatic brain injury.

News brought to you by Serious Law specialists in traumatic brain injury.

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