Our brain is the source of everything that makes us human: language, creativity, rationality, emotion, communication, culture, politics. The neurosciences have given us, in recent decades, fundamental new insights into how the brain works and what that means for how we see ourselves as individuals and as communities. Now – with the help of new advances in nanotechnology – brain science proposes to go further: to study its molecular foundations, to repair brain functions, to create mind-machine interfaces, and to enhance human mental capacities in radical ways. This book explores the convergence of these two revolutionary scientific fields and the implications of this convergence for the future of human societies. In the process, the book offers a significant new approach to technology assessment, one which operates in real-time, alongside the innovation process, to inform the ways in which new fields of science and technology emerge in, get shaped by, and help shape human societies.

This book describes the use of modern micro- and nanofabrication technologies to develop improved tools for stimulating and recording electrical activity in neuronal networks. It provides an overview of the different ways in which the “nano-world” can be beneficial for neuroscientists, including improvement of mechanical adhesion of cells on electrodes, tight-sealed extracellular recordings or intracellular approaches with strongly reduced invasiveness and tools for localized electrical or optical stimulation in optogenetics experiments. Specific discussion of fabrication strategies is included, to provide a comprehensive guide to develop micro and nanostructured tools for biological applications. A perspective on integrating these devices with state-of-the-art technologies for large-scale in vitro and in vivo experiments completes the picture of neuronal interfacing with micro- and nanostructures.

Nanotechnology and the Brain, the latest edition in the International Review of Neurobiology series is well-known for its appeal to neuroscientists, clinicians, psychologists, physiologists, and pharmacologists. Written by an internationally renowned expert in the field, this volume focuses on the application of nanotechnology in the brain, covering blood brain barrier biology and how nanoparticles should be engineered to tackle this barrier. Covers a wide range of nanoparticles in dedicated chapters Focuses on the application of nanotechnology in the brain, shedding light on blood brain barrier biology and nanoparticles engineering Contains the diverse expertise of renowned contributors

Neuroengineering is a field of science which studies the properties and functions of neural systems, with the objective of enhancing, repairing or replacing neural function. This field builds on the foundations of experimental and computational neuroscience, electrical engineering, clinical neurology and signal processing of living neural tissue. It also integrates robotics, neural tissue engineering, nanotechnology, etc. By using the fundamentals of neural networks, neural relations and nervous system functions, devices that can control and interpret signals and produce meaningful responses can be designed. The research in neural engineering is driven by the use of techniques that study how the nervous system functions or malfunctions. Neuroimaging techniques such as MRI, fMRI, PET and CAT scans, neural networks that model neural systems, neural prostheses that replace or supplement impaired nervous functions, etc. are some of the applications of neuroengineering. Research in this domain is focused on the rehabilitation of brain malfunction or brain damage arising from spinal cord injury, peripheral nerve injury, etc. There has also been a concerted effort to develop scaffolds for the regrowth of the spinal cord for management of neurological problems. This book discusses the fundamentals as well as modern approaches of this field. It elucidates the concepts and innovative models of neuroengineering around prospective developments with respect to rehabilitation. This book, with its detailed analyses and data, will prove immensely beneficial to professionals and students involved in this area at various levels.

This volume presents articles from the leading experts in the field in nanobiotechnology, providing students and researchers with a comprehensive review of the newly emerging area of neuroscience. All aspects of nanomaterials induced alteration in brain function are considered. Basic chapters on methods and ways to enhance nano-drug delivery into the brain are presented as well as chapters on functional and structural changes in the CNS, including gene expression and related issues. Particular attention is given to possible therapeutic advancement regarding nano-drug formulation and their role in neuroprotection.

Nanoneuroscience is the study of computationally relevant biomolecules found inside neurons. Because of recent technological advances at the nanometer scale, scientists have at their disposal increasingly better ways to study the brain and the biophysics of its molecules. This book describes how biomolecules contribute to the operations of synapses and perform other computationally relevant functions inside dendrites. These biomolecular operations considerably expand the brain-computer analogy - endowing each neuron with the processing power of a silicon-based multiprocessor. Amazingly, the brain contains hundreds of billions of neurons.