Camera in Mouse’s Brain May Help Parkinson’s Patients
In order to see how memories are formed, Japanese researchers have recently implanted a tiny camera inside the brain of a mouse. Jun Ohta, a professor at Nara Institute of Science and Technology in western Japan hopes that this experiment will lead to discovering treatment for human illnesses which involve the brain.
The semiconductor camera which is 3 mm (0.1 inch) long, 2.3 mm wide, and 2.4 mm deep, was placed inside the hippocampus of the mouse’s brain. The camera was designed so that blue light showed on a screen when a memory was recorded by the brain.
The researchers at Kinki University injected a substance into the mouse which lights up with brain activity. The camera picks up the light and produces visuals on a screen.
Ohta and the researchers plan to attempt to use the camera when the mouse is in motion. They are hoping that this research will eventually lead to new options for treating Parkinson’s disease.
Ohta told Reuters, “"We are thinking about how to apply this to humans, though we must be very careful, as it involves implanting something into the brain.” The goal is to track brain activity that triggers symptoms of Parkinson’s such as tremors. Ohta thinks this would take a minimum of ten years.
—
On the Net: