The IEEE Brain Initiative eNewsletter is a quarterly online publication launched in January 2017. It features practical and timely information and forward-looking commentary on neurotechnologies and neuroengineering. eNewsletter articles can describe recent breakthroughs in research, primers on methods of interests, or report recent events such as conferences or workshops. You can contact the eNewsletter editor with any questions concerning the topic or content of your article.
Top Posts
An affective computing aspect on similarities and differences in emotion recognition with EEG and eye movements among Chinese, German, and French people
December 2022
RESEARCH
Wei Liu, Bao-Liang Lu
Emotions, especially facial expressions, used to be thought of as universal all around the world: we would cry when we are sad, and we would smile when we are happy. However, you might have experienced that you do not laugh after hearing a foreign joke realizing that the joke has distinct cultural backgrounds. Emotions, therefore, seem to have both universal and culturally variable components. Understanding the relationship between cultures and emotions can help us know whether emotions affect physical health in the same way across various cultures and inform us about the effectiveness of mental health interventions for patients with different cultural backgrounds. In addition, from the aspect of affective computing, a deep comprehension of cultural influences on emotions can help us build emotion recognition models for generalizing to people around the world.
Self-stretchable Christmas-tree-shaped Ultraflexible Neural Probes
December 2022
RESEARCH
Ye Tian, Cunkai Zhou, Kuikui Zhang, Huiran Yang, Zhaohan Chen, Zhitao Zhou, Xiaoling Wei, Tiger H. Tao, Liuyang Sun
Implantable flexible neural probes have been demonstrated bridging the mechanical mismatch between invasive probes and brain tissues, minimizing footprint in brain, and chronic biocompatibility [1]. However, conventional needle-shaped flexible neural probes reported before have recording sites distributed vertically along a relatively narrow shank [2], which limits the lateral range in which the probes may record neural signals. Although designs with more probe shanks expand the lateral detectable range, the high implantation density reflects in increased tissue damage and surgery complexity. In this work, we developed a flexible neural probe by novel Christmas-tree structure, which has branches that are foldable along the shank by temporary encapsulation before implantation and self-stretchable after the encapsulation dissolves after implantation. The probe we developed affords increased lateral sensing range without causing extra brain tissue damage.
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IEEE BrainInsight
Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering: Accelerating Neurotechnology Development
RESEARCH
T. Laabs
Tech billionaires are investing in neurotechnology with optimism. Elon Musk, Brian Johnson and Marc Zuckerberg, to name a few, cite enhancing human intelligence, boosting memory, and electronically sharing full sensory and emotional experiences as their goals. But is money enough to drive a revolution in neurotech or could the readiness level of the technology curtail their ambitions?
IEEE DataPort
OPINION
Would you like to get more exposure for your valuable Brain or Neuroscience research? Do you have datasets that require long-term storage and easy access long-term? You are invited to experience the exciting new data repository developed by IEEE called IEEE DataPort™! This IEEE data repository offers many benefits to researchers, data analysts, and institutions around the globe, and it is currently available at no cost.
Call for Participation: 2017 IEEE Brain Data Bank Challenges and Competitions
EVENTS
The IEEE Brain Initiative, in partnership with the IEEE Big Data Initiative and the IEEE Consumer Electronics Society, is excited to sponsor new competition opportunities throughout 2017, to explore Brain Data storage retrieval and analytics, the so called Brain Data Bank (BDB) Competitions. This “Call for Participation” is an extension of the popular brain-computer interface (BCI) Hackathons held in the prior year.
Welcome to BrainInsight
R. Chavarriaga
Welcome to the inaugural issue of BrainInsight, a quarterly online publication of the IEEE brain initiative. This is a space for the IEEE Brain community to share technical information and forward-looking commentary on brain-related research and technologies.
A Long Path Towards Restoring Locomotion After Spinal Cord Injury
RESEARCH
M. Capogrosso, T. Milekovic, G. Courtine
A century of research in spinal cord physiology has demonstrated that the circuits embedded in the lumbar spinal cord of mammals can autonomously produce repetitive patterns of motor activity resembling locomotion [1]. After a spinal cord injury (SCI), however, the neural pathways carrying information between the brain and these spinal circuits, usually located below the injury, are partly or completely interrupted. While the lumbar circuits are intact, this interruption disrupts or abolishes volitional leg movements.