Scientists invent brain implants that could change a human’s mood

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Korean scientists have developed a brain implant device, with a size of a grain of salt, that could manipulate a person’s mood using a smartphone.
• The wireless charging device utilizes LEDs to emit messages to the neurons in the brain.
• The invention is compatible with brain tissues and targets specific neurons.

South Korean scientists have built an amazing invention ━  a LED-lit brain implant, with a size of a salt grain, that could control human moods through a smartphone.

The nanochips device, which is Bluetooth-ready, uses light to deliver messages to the brain’s neurons.

The scientists from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said that this innovation could be used in treating depression and Parkinson’s disease.

According to sciencetimes.com, boffins from the institute have demonstrated that the device can manipulate the brain through a rat-injected drug experiment.

Physiology professor Jeong-Hoon Kim from Yonsei University’s College of Medicine said that the implants were able to suppress “cocaine-induced behaviors.”

“The fact that we can control a specific behavior of animals, by delivering light stimulation into the brain just with a simple manipulation of a smartphone app, watching freely moving animals nearby, is very interesting and stimulates a lot of imagination,” he said. “This technology will facilitate various avenues of brain research.”

Attached to the brain, the device with LEDs hooked is wirelessly controlled by a smartphone.

Now, researchers have developed an innovative twist in its software.

The updated version includes a wireless energy harvester alongside a coil antenna that would capture magnetic fields, which enables wireless charging. This device is harmlessly pulsed beneath the human’s skin which could generate electricity that could charge the small battery inside.

Research team leader Professor Jae-Woong Jeong said that the tweak avoids the hassle of replacing used batteries and efficiently favors flawless fixing. 

“We believe that the same basic technology can be applied to various types of implants, including deep brain stimulators, and cardiac and gastric pacemakers, to reduce the burden on patients for long-term use within the body,” Jeong added.

Yonsei University’s College of Medicine scientist Min Jeong Ju, co-lead author of the research, said that “this device can be operated anywhere and anytime to manipulate neural circuits, which makes it a highly versatile tool for investigating brain functions.”

The newest invention is made of ultra-soft and bio-compliant polymers, an upgraded version of previous devices. It now blends well with brain tissue with the ability to target specific brain neurons.

Source: Daily Star