neurodudes

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Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a popular technology for stimulating human cortical neurons, due to its safety, noninvasiveness, and efficacy. A TMS device is just a little coil of wire, through which 10,000 Amps of current is cranked during a period of only a few hundred microseconds; the resultant rapidly-changing magnetic field induces eddy currents in the brain. Depending on the protocol used, TMS can drive/inhibit a region of cortex corresponding to roughly a cubic centimeter or two, and is being explored for the treatment of depression, the reduction of auditory hallucinations during schizophrenia, and the alleviation of tinnitus and migraines. Thousands of papers on medicine and psychology have been written using this tool.

Yet the device itself is expensive and rare — they can run from $20,000 to $50,000 or even more, despite the fact that they are, in essence, a coil, a switch, a bank of capacitors, and a power supply. Much of the art lies in making the devices safe and fail-proof. Is it possible to hack/engineer a system that is safe, fault-tolerant, efficacious, and inexpensive? And furthermore, can we facilitate a community that will devise such devices, and share information about protocols and approaches to brain hacking?

This past August at Foo Camp, a hackers’ conference in Northern California, a group of people got together and set out to do just that. We are designing a safe, noninvasive, modular, and “open source” brain stimulator that will open up the field of circuit modulation to a wider audience. Members of the group include therapists and mental health professionals, engineers, programmers, and others interested in either the development of such devices, or the sharing of information on this front. Key to the design is safety — we want to make sure that the devices we create are as safe as devices on the market. Also, all the information is released under the Creative Commons “Attribution and Sharealike” license. This is a new model for “open source” medical device development — which may move it beyond the domain of simply creating “cool toys,” and to creating real devices.

You can find out more information, or contribute to the project, or learn from the project, at
http://transcenmentalism.org/OpenStim/

-Ed

Today MIT’s Technology Review magazine released its annual list of innovators under the age of 35 who were nominated for recognition. Interestingly, almost a full quarter are doing work relating to or impacting the field of neuroengineering — including ways to tag synapses with quantum dots, activate neurons remotely, improve machine vision, classify whole-brain states for prosthetic purposes, and make nanowire arrays.

http://www.technologyreview.com/TR35/

Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Cognitive Neuroscience Department of Psychology

Salary is in the range of =A322,779 to =A325,092 per annum inclusive of London Allowance depending on experience.

A three-year, full-time postdoctoral research position is available to investigate the neural basis of learning in the human brain using functional MRI. The project will study the dynamic changes in activity that accompany the acquisition of cognitive and motor skills, and will focus on information processing in the prefrontal cortex, the cortical motor system and interconnected areas of the cerebellum (see Ramnani (2006), Nature Reviews Neuroscience 7(7): 511-522). The project is funded by a BBSRC grant to Dr. Narender Ramnani. Facilities include an on-site, research-dedicated 3T Siemens Trio MRI scanner hosted by the Psychology Department at Royal Holloway (Surrey, 35 minutes to central London). Candidates should hold (or should expect to be awarded) a PhD in Behavioural or Cognitive Neuroscience by January 2007 (although candidates from other research backgrounds will also be considered if their skills are relevant to the project). A record of published research, some familiarity with functional neuroanatomy and good programming skills are essential. Familiarity with practical and statistical neuroimaging methods is desirable. Candidates should be willing to learn new research methods and to have a strong interest in pursuing a research career.

Planned (flexible) start date, 15th January. Further information can be found at www.pc.rhul.ac.uk/staff/n.ramnani. Informal inquiries should be addressed to Dr. Ramnani (tel. [deleted by editor]; email [deleted by editor]).

Further details and an application form are available from the Personnel Department, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX;
Telephone: 01784 414241;
Fax: 01784 473527;
E-Mail: recruitment at rhul dot ac.uk

Please quote the reference number AC/4612. The closing date for the receipt of applications is midday on 6th October 2006.

We positively welcome applications from all sections of the communit