The human brain weighs only three pounds
But it is the most complex substance in the known world
present, in a new generation of lifeforms
Under the wave of fusion and interaction with non-living forms
How to culture the "brain" in vitro by stem cell technology
Achieving "Mind Control"
"Brain-computer interface on a chip" research
It is attracting wide attention from the academic community
Brain-on-chip interface is a brain-on-chip technology that uses in vitro culture of "brains" (such as brain organoids) coupled with electrode chips to form a brain-on-a-chip, and realizes its interaction with external information through encoding and decoding and stimulus-feedback. As an important emerging branch in the field of brain-computer interface, brain-computer interface on chip is expected to revolutionize the development of cutting-edge technology fields such as hybrid intelligence and brain-like computing.
At present, the construction technology of a new hybrid agent of brain-computer interface on chip is still in its infancy, involving multiple key links such as intelligent foundation, intelligent communication, intelligent migration, and intelligent fusion. Among them, the intelligence foundation, as the central processing unit CPU of the agent, is the core of the realization of brain-on-chip intelligence, aiming to efficiently simulate and analyze the brain. Brain organoids, which are currently regarded as the most promising basic models of intelligence, still face bottlenecks such as low development maturity and insufficient nutrient supply, although they have similar structures and functions to the human brain.
The neuroengineering team of Tianjin University School of Medicine has explored this problem in depth and recently published relevant research results in Brain, a top journal in the field of brain science. The team found that low-intensity focused ultrasound can significantly promote the proliferation of neural progenitor cells and the differentiation of neurons, the thickness and clarity of the cortical plate, and the maturation of synaptic structure and function, and finally form a 3D neural network with high complexity and storage computing power, which can provide a better intelligent foundation for brain-computer interfaces on chips. This study is the first time in the academic community to analyze the regulatory effect of physical field on the growth and development of human-derived brain organoids, and clarify the principle and mechanism of low-intensity focused ultrasound regulation through the YAP signaling pathway.
In the experiment, the team transplanted human-derived brain organoids into the primary sensory cortex of immunodeficient mice (NOD scid) to construct a human-mouse brain chimera and build a brain-on-a-chip application system. Through the comprehensive use of immunofluorescence technology, cell lineage tracing, single-cell RNA sequencing and other experimental methods, the results showed that low-intensity focused ultrasound could promote the differentiation and maturation of brain organoid grafts in host brain tissues. Gene knockdown and drug intervention were used to elucidate the molecular mechanism of low-intensity focused ultrasound (FOCUS) affecting the proliferation of cortical organoids by affecting the nucleocytoplasmic ratio of YAP in neural progenitor cells.
Construction of an on-chip brain-computer interface for an in-vivo application system
Based on the brain-on-a-chip system, the Gamma band energy and phase of the brain organoid graft graft during the host pain behavior process were analyzed by analyzing the Gamma band energy and phase of the brain organoid graft during the host pain behavior, which confirmed that low-intensity focused ultrasound can promote the integration and interaction between brain organoids and the host, as well as the regeneration and repair of neurodevelopmental defects, which preliminarily shows the application potential of the brain-on-a-chip system in the field of medical rehabilitation.
The study was published in Brain, a top international journal in brain science and the journal of the European Neurological Society, with a paper entitled "Low-intensity ultrasound ameliorates brain organoid integration and rescues microcephaly deficits". It has also received funding support from the "14th Five-Year Plan" National Key R&D Program "Design and Development of Tissue Engineering Brain-like Intelligent Complex". Tianjin University is the sole author of the paper, Professor Li Xiaohong and Professor Ming Dong are the corresponding authors, and 2021 doctoral students Guo Di and Associate Professor Chen Liqun are the co-authors.
One of the application scenarios of brain-computer interface on chip
Using the above-mentioned brain-on-chip in vivo application system, the team of Tianjin University and Southern University of Science and Technology collaborated to develop the world's first open-source brain-on-chip intelligence complex information interaction system, which realized the cultivation of "brain" for unmanned control tasks such as robot obstacle avoidance, tracking, and grasping, and completed the enlightenment of a variety of brain-like computing. The Tianjin University team has applied for 15 national invention patents in the direction of brain-computer interface on chips, examined 2 patents in the United States and the United Kingdom, held the first international conference on brain-computer interface on chips, and edited the first brain-computer interface textbook on chips. In the future, the team will further deepen the exploration of key scientific issues such as intelligent communication, intelligent migration, and intelligent integration of brain-computer interface on chip, and promote the transformation and application of brain-computer interface technology on chip as soon as possible.
Editor / Liu Mengyuan
Base map production / Fan Yihan Zhang Yixin
Review / Wang Xin, Liang Shaonan