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Prying Open the Black Box of the Brain!

The brain is the most complex organ in the body and even with the technological advances in the past decades, scientists still have yet to name and understand the function of all the cells found in the brain. The "Black Box" of the brain is part of that unknown phenomena. The Black Box is a 3 pound section of the brain that researchers are still understanding. To further these studies, President Barrack Obama launched the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative on April 2, 2013. Along side other organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the BRAIN initiative launched with the goal to form a theory of how the brain functions over an organism. This new theory would be able to set a framework for all new information on brain science. 

Basic studies were in order with a team effort of mathematicians, neurobiologists, physicists, scientists, chemists and engineers to compare and contrast the nervous systems function of varying organisms. Some with very simple neurological systems and others with more complex systems. Other theoretical studies were necessary in order to predict neurological functions of a healthy brain based on behaviors and thoughts. Also, an array of tools would be developed to better probe and manipulate the brain as well as better image the brain and its activity. 

Some of these discoveries were fostered by the help of NSF. One particular innovation that interested me is called Optogenetics. This is a "bioengineering technique that enables scientists to selectively turn on and off particular neurons and neuronal circuits in living organisms so that resulting behavioral changes can be observed in real time." This is used to help scientists determine the function of certain neurons and neuron circuits. With this technology, scientists can target parts of the brain that become diseased and develop drugs to fight against these brain diseases. 

I found this article very interesting because it helped me realize that science is progressing more than ever and that in my lifetime I could potentially witness one of the greatest scientific achievements in human history. Science is on the doorstep to finding what exactly that three pounds of unknown neural tissue does for a living organism. 

 -Kade Kofford
BIOL 1610-006

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 25, 2018 at 9:47 AM

    Very interesting article but once again all science wants to do is cover the problem with a band-aid when they say "...target parts of the brain that become diseased and develop drugs to fight against these brain diseases." Why don't they research what the source of the disease is in the first place? Or how about researching how the miraculous human body is able to heal so many health problems on its own? Probably because the human body healing itself does not make them money and drugs do.
    SQ

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    Replies
    1. UnknownApril 17, 2018 at 9:23 PM

      Totally agree with your questions. Its something i think about all the time and i see all the time! There is so much science out there and our bodies are amazing it could heal itself if given the chance with the right help. Like with cancer, they have a cure, they must. With all these brilliant people doing research for years and years and nothing... no way. Just ways to get rid of the cancer by poisoning the rest of our body and even making our health worse. But they would never let anyone know what they have found. ever. Because they would stop making money if no one was sick. Its a sad world we live in that money is seen over the overall improvement of someone's life. But what do we know? Only what they want us too right? MN

      Delete
    2. UnknownApril 19, 2018 at 3:09 PM

      I think that there are researchers out there that are trying to find the root of the problem when it comes to disease, but it is a continuous work in progress and takes quite some time, especially when dealing with something as complex as the brain. While I do believe that pharmaceutical companies can be corrupt, I also believe that the drugs they produce do help many people with their unique conditions (although it may not be as beneficial to others). And even though drugs are a "bandaid," isn't a bandaid better than nothing at all? In an ideal world, we would have all the answers and would use the least harmful treatments, but the reality is that we are still learning and evolving. If there hypothetically were a way that scientists have found for us to heal ourselves without the use of medication, I think they would have let us know by now.

      R.G.

      Delete
  2. UnknownMarch 28, 2018 at 5:56 PM

    I loved your article . It seems if they were able to do more research on this part of the brain it could help cure diseases such as Alzheimer or dementia. That they can locate the part of the brain that is affected and why that part and why it s being affected in general
    LR

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownApril 27, 2018 at 9:32 AM

    This is a subject that I feel everyone finds pretty interesting. There are lots of movies and fictional stories out there about what would happen if we could use our entire brain power. One question that I had while reading this was, if we were able to study that portion of people's brains with a high IQ would there be a big difference as opposed to someone with a normal IQ? I wonder if people with a high IQ are able to use more of the black box than others?

    Tyrel Barney

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