Can Sensors be Attached to Neurons in the Human Body?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the feasibility of attaching sensors to neurons in the human body and whether such sensors can stimulate neuronal reactions. The scope includes theoretical and experimental aspects of neuroscience and bioengineering.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions the possibility of attaching a sensor to a neuron and eliciting a reaction from it.
  • Another participant asserts that it is indeed possible, citing the use of microelectrodes in neuroscience to detect and activate neurons.
  • Optogenetics is mentioned as a recent advancement that allows neurons to be controlled by light, with the potential to turn them on or off.
  • A request for sources leads to suggestions for neuroscience literature and links to articles discussing the use of electrodes and biological computing.
  • Participants share links to various articles and studies related to neural implants and brain-computer interfaces.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

While some participants agree on the feasibility of using sensors with neurons, there is no consensus on the specifics or the extent of current capabilities. The discussion includes varying levels of familiarity with the topic and differing sources of information.

Contextual Notes

Some claims rely on assumptions about the current state of technology and the definitions of terms like "sensors" and "neurons." The discussion does not resolve the complexities involved in the practical application of these technologies.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in neuroscience, bioengineering, and the intersection of technology and biology may find this discussion relevant.

Femme_physics
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Wasn't sure where to post it as there is no medical engineering forum but...

Is it possible to attach a sensor to a neuron in a human body and get the human's neuron to react to the sensor being stimulated?
 
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Yes, it's done all the time. In fact it was done first to detect the electrical activity of neurons. Microelectrodes are frequently used in neuroscience to activate neurons, have a search on google or any scientific article database and you're bound to find an array of experiments.

A recent cool development is optogenetics wherein neurons are reprogrammed to produce light sensitive proteins. Under different flashes of light the neurons can either be turned on or off

 
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Can you link me to a good source, ryan? I actually tried googling with the words "neurons" and "sensors" and I only got to "sensory neurons"

Optogenetics is definitely interesting. :)
 
A good source? You probably want to invest in a neuroscience book, seriously electrodes are used all the time. Funnily enough though there have been some recent stories that got some science headlines. I've placed the links bellow, hope they're what you are looking for (if you want proper peer-reviewed papers id advice a pubmed search)

Electrode lasts 1000 days in a persons brain
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/03/power-of-thought-neural-implan.html

Mouse neurons used to make a biological computer to control a robot
http://www.pcworld.com/article/210073/grow_your_own_brain_robot_powered_by_rat_neurons_learns_to_avoid_walls.html

Small article on the current/future uses of microelectrodes in prosthetics
http://www.vis.caltech.edu/Press/PDFs%20of%20journal%20articles/Press/Artifficial%20limbs%20wired.pdf

Wikipedia article on brain/computer interfaces
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain–computer_interface
 
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That's pretty cool. I hope to get into it one day.
 

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