Scientists 'rewiring' the brain after injuryRSS Feed

Sufferers of a traumatic brain injury may have their brain "rewired" to bypass the damaged area and restore normal function.

This is the goal of scientists in the US, who are hoping to build a tiny electronic device that will guide the growth of axons, slender projections from neurons in the brain that act like fibre-optic cables.

Pedram Mohseni, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Case Western Reserve University, has already developed a model used on rats.

The device, known as a brain-machine-brain interface, amplifies signals from neurons in one part of the brain and then sends a signal to another region of the brain, artificially connecting the two.

Professor Mohseni and his collaborator Randolph Nudo, a professor of molecular and integrative physiology at Kansas University Medical Center, have now received a $1.44 (£910,000) grant from Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program to continue their work.

Much of the work has been inspired by the traumatic brain injuries suffered by soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.

According to research from Arrowhead, 83 per cent of troops returning from these conflicts could have suffered some form of brain injury.

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

Posted by JohnSherrington

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