Researchers Developing Brain-Mapping Technology

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Cowen added, “This is a very interesting adventure we’re undertaking, because nobody knows what ABI will actually measure. Will it measure the activity of tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of neurons? Will it detect the activity at a specific frequency, or at a range of frequencies?”

ABI could also provide a clearer picture of activity in structures deep in the brain, like the amygdala and hippocampus.

“There’s an important diagnostic aspect to this, because if ABI can pick up abnormal electrical activity coming from these structures, it could reveal signatures for specific brain disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease,” Cowen said. “ABI could be a great technique for diagnosing traumatic brain injuries like concussion, or a noninvasive way to diagnose a seizure.”

Clinical Possibilities

While still experimental, ABI technology could have many important clinical applications. For example, doctors might use it as an add-on device for an ultrasound machine.

Similar to how an obstetrician uses an ultrasound probe to see images of a fetus, a neurologist might hold the UA-created transducer to a person’s head to see images of electrical activity in a particular neural circuit. A single electrode on the head would pick up the activity and convert it digitally in real time for projection on a display monitor, perhaps, or under a microscope.

ABI might also help a brain surgeon determine which tissue to remove to reduce seizures in a patient with epilepsy. Or it might help a neurologist monitor a drug’s effectiveness in reducing electrical spikes that cause hallucinations in a patient with schizophrenia.

However it is used, Witte said, ABI could be a safe and effective tool for diagnosing and treating devastating neurological and psychiatric disorders, and for revolutionizing our understanding of the human brain -- one of the federal government’s Grand Challenges of the 21st century.

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