October 31, 2019 | October 2019 issue
October 31, 2019 | More than 27,000 attendees from 13 countries descended into McCormick Place in Chicago for the 2019 Society for Neuroscience meeting. There were lectures, symposiums, roundtables and press events during the seven-day conference. For an event that is typically heavily focused on hard science, there were several areas of emphasis for the role neuroscience plays in society.
A symposium dedicated to high density neural recordings highlighted innovations in interface electrodes and probes. In an effort to improve upon the Utah array, participants stressed flexibility and channel count in this session. Rizwan Huq from Columbia University introduced an ultrathin, ultradense flexible CMOS microelectrode array with, 65,536 contacts. Zhengtuo Zhao from the University of Texas, Austin described their high-density 3D ultra-flexible electrode consisting of 1024 channels with eight levels on one array.
Rahul Panat from Carnegie Mellon University gave several examples of their CMU array, a customizable, ultradense and large-scale recording electrode using nanoparticle 3D printing. Ashley Novais of International Nanotechnology Laboratory focused on high-density silicon neural probes. They fabricated an eight-shank silicon probe consisting of eight micro-electrodes with a total width of about 50 microns and a thickness of 15 microns.
Razi Haque from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory showcased their next generation of cortical arrays within a modular system. The new cortical electrode array features 64 channels and up to four of these electrodes may be connected to their IPG for a total of 256 channels. The project to develop the system was supported by the DARPA SUB-NET program and has been tested inter-operatively on human participants.
Ethical, societal, and economic issues were peppered into the scientific program. A first press conference at the event featured neurotech luminaries Dustin Tyler of Case and Doug Weber of Pitt. Suzanne Rivera of CWRU said, “Scientists have a moral obligation to be involved in policy and societal issues, or we may end up with unintended consequences.”
The NIH has also taken notice of ethical challenges for neurotechnologies developed through the BRAIN Initiative. They recently published a paper in JAMA Neurology identifying three main areas of ethical challenges related to neural devices: risk versus benefit involved in clinical experimentation, the importance of informed consent, and the responsibilities researchers, manufacturers, and funders have to the research participants. “This important research is only possible through the generosity and trust of our human research participants,” said Winston Chiong of UCSF. “It’s very important that this research is guided not only by researchers’ good intentions, but also deliberate consideration about present and future risks to participants. This also includes consideration of cost and broader questions about what it’s like to live with one of these devices.”
In a lecture titled “A Neuroethics Frontier,” Nita Farahany of Duke University articulated a roadmap of where we are and suggestions of where we should proceed to address ethical issues around “cognitive liberty.” She stated that “neurotechnology gives us a front-row seat to see our own thoughts.” She called into question some current practices like EEG monitoring caps for employees used by Australian mining companies and for students used by school officials in China. She also brought up neuromarketing practices in advertising and product access by IKEA and aspirin manufacturer St. Joseph as well as on-going efforts by Facebook and Elon Musk’s Neuralink to use our brainwaves. “Legal protections are not keeping up with brain technology,” she concluded. “Our brains deserve special protections.”
The end-user experience featured prominently at this year’s event. Brandon Prestwood delivered an emotional story of his experience with an upper limb prosthetic with sensory restoration. “I reached out and stroked my wife’s hand so I could feel her skin,” he related. He described how the experience with the new technology became a highly emotional experience. There was also an entire symposium session dedicated to the storytelling of neuroscience and the human experience featuring personal stories from users who infused their life experiences into the research process. One such user, Barbara Lipska, a scientist at NIH/NIMH, spoke of her mental and physical instability that resulted from a brain tumor she developed while she was a research scientist studying brain disorders. She gained a new perspective from the experience. “Mental illness is a disease of the brain. It should be treated that way,” she said. Blackrock Microsystems also hosted a panel of BCI users who have been involved with research projects at Battelle, University of Pittsburgh, and Johns Hopkins University.
Neuroscience modeling frameworks were also discussed at the meeting. Topics such as the advancement of CRISPR, artificial intelligence, and machine learning came up several times. Teams from University College London, University of Washington, and Columbia University have been using existing data and applying AI to build detections of behavior for the future. Aran Nayebi of Stanford University demonstrated his latest modeling tool using task-driven convolutional recurrent neural networks both in rat and non-human primate trials. The team at Flatiron Institute, supported by the Simon Foundation, has developed open source software used for neural spike detection.
Funding issues came up during an NIH directors panel. Walter Koroshetz of NINDS said that 14 of the 27 institutes within NIH support neuroscience research. Through the NIH Blueprint, they supported $8 billion of neuroscience research in FY18. “That is more than any other type of research at NIH,” he said. Much of it is dedicated to pain and addiction, dementia, and the BRAIN Initiative which is funded through 2026. After 50 years, the Society for Neuroscience has evolved from just a hard science event to a broader event recognizing the role within our society.
