In the "Proposal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-term Goals for the Year 2035", brain science is regarded as a core technical field related to national security and the overall situation of development. Recently, the Ministry of Science and Technology released the scientific and technological innovation 2030 - "brain science and brain-like research" major project 2021 annual project declaration work officially kicked off. Throughout the world, the United States, Japan, South Korea and other countries have issued brain science research programs, and brain science research has become a new focus of scientific frontiers in various countries.
However, brain science, even at the forefront, has attracted many social forces to participate together. For example, the entrepreneur Musk, through the commercial company to operate product research and development, and with personal influence, let one of the applications of brain science research - brain-computer interface application to more people "out of the circle"; Chen Tianqiao, a well-known Chinese entrepreneur, has donated in the field of brain science basic research at home and abroad in a charitable manner; IDG Capital funded the landing of the brain science research institutes of Tsinghua, Peking University and Beijing Normal University ten years ago.
Why can brain science go out of the loop? On October 13th, the 189th issue of the Guangzhou Science Popularization Forum "Brain Science - The "Ultimate Frontier" of Natural Science" sponsored by Guangzhou Science and Technology Association and Guangzhou Daily Newspaper invited a number of brain science experts to introduce the specific application of brain science.
Gospel of Brain Diseases: "In situ Nerve Regeneration Technology of the Brain"
According to incomplete statistics, there are currently 10 million Alzheimer's patients and 3 million Parkinson's disease patients in China, and 5.7 million new stroke patients are added every year. In China, 3 out of every 4 stroke patients are left with a permanent disability, and the cost of stroke treatment is as high as 40 billion yuan per year.
"The human brain is the most complex organ, with 86 billion neurons and 1 trillion synaptic connections." Professor Chen Gongdao of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Central Nervous System Regeneration Research Institute of Jinan University. Chen Gong introduced that the human brain has about 86 billion neurons, and it is often possible to lose up to 1 billion neurons after a stroke, and for a long time in the past, scientists have been exploring how to regenerate the lost neurons to solve the problem of human brain diseases.
Endogenous glial cells are converted into neurons in situ, without the need for exogenous cells
"At present, there is no stem cell therapy in the world that has passed phase 3 clinical trials and is widely used in brain diseases." Chen Gong believes that relying on stem cell therapy to cure brain diseases such as stroke and Alzheimer's disease is quite difficult, because stem cell therapy cannot regenerate the hundreds of millions or even 1 billion neurons that have been lost in the brain, and it is necessary to establish a very expensive stem cell bank in vitro, and then resuscitate and expand stem cells into the human brain or spinal cord.
In order to explore and solve brain diseases such as stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's syndrome, Chen Gong led his team to develop a new technology - "brain in situ nerve regeneration technology". The technique directly converts stress-type glial cells in the brain into neurons in situ, restarting nerve-related genes to restore the patient's ability to act.
Chen Gong introduced that through the "brain in situ nerve regeneration technology", the transformed neurons have electrophysiological functions, can survive for more than 1 year, and can be integrated into the brain circuit, long-distance projection to the target target area, in the neural circuit to promote the recovery of patients' motor and memory function. Lifetime survival ,
Chen Gong believes that the "brain in situ nerve regeneration technology" to treat brain diseases has the advantages of using endogenous glial cells to efficiently regenerate new neurons, glial cells can regenerate new glial cells on their own, transformed neurons have physiological functions and long-term survival, and transformed neurons can be projected to the target target area for a long time to repair neural circuits.
"The in situ transformation of glial cells into neurons on the monkey stroke model and the repair of lost brain tissue marks a step forward in the clinical transformation of 'brain in situ nerve regeneration technology'." Chen Gong introduced that in 2020, he led the team to achieve glial cell in situ regeneration neurons on the monkey stroke model, becoming the first team in the world to successfully realize glial cell in situ regeneration of neurons and pass peer review; at present, the team has more than 100 patent applications and more than 30 international patents.
"Brain in situ nerve regeneration technology has broad application prospects and plays a huge role in the treatment of a series of major central nervous system diseases such as stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's syndrome, and glioma." Chen Gong spoke confidently.
A New Frontier in Neurological Rehabilitation: "Brain-Computer Fusion"
In recent years, with the continuous deepening of the understanding of the human brain, the research on artificial intelligence technology to simulate and expand brain function has also achieved significant development, "brain-computer fusion" as a cutting-edge hybrid intelligence technology, the combination of human brain intelligence and machine intelligence organically, in the field of medical and health industry has a broad space for development.
"In this case, the disabled person whose limbs have been paralyzed has completed the drinking action independently with the help of 'brain-computer fusion technology' without help." Wang Xiangyu, professor and chief physician of the Department of Neurosurgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, introduced the "brain-computer fusion technology" with vivid cases.
Implantable brain-computer fusion technology
"Brain-computer fusion refers to the connection of the brain with intelligent machines to achieve certain ultra-long functions." Wang Xiangyu introduced that the human brain is extremely complex, and the basic structure of the human nervous system includes neurons, the central nervous system, the peripheral nervous system, and the neural support tissue.
It is understood that the current "brain-computer fusion" technology is divided into implantable and non-implantable. Implantable "brain-computer fusion" is implanted by a neurosurgeon into the human brain, and the micro-appliances on the chip are in contact with neurons in specific areas of human brain tissue, so as to obtain the signals sent by the human brain and achieve "brain-machine fusion". Non-implantable "brain-computer fusion" collects the electromagnetic signals emitted by the human brain through a mesh cap with electrodes, and the computer judges the instructions issued by the brain according to the vibration and amplitude of the collected signals, thus realizing "brain-computer fusion".
"EEG-based non-implantable brain-computer fusion technology can help people with disabilities achieve digital dialing, text input, wheelchair control, motor function repair and other operations." Wang Xiangyu believes that "brain-computer fusion technology" has the significance of improving information processing, accelerating intelligent integration, and enhancing cognitive science, and has a wide range of application prospects in the fields of disability rehabilitation, aerospace, and national security.
Wang Xiangyu believes that at present, the common concept of neurological rehabilitation in China is that rehabilitation is later than general diagnosis and treatment, and the general process is mainly emergency/outpatient - primary diagnosis and treatment - rehabilitation, and there are drawbacks of rehabilitation delay and affecting prognosis; and intelligent and active rehabilitation represented by "brain-computer fusion" is the forefront and future development trend of neurological rehabilitation. At the same time, Wang Xiangyu pointed out that the development of brain-computer fusion-active rehabilitation in China faces problems such as cross-construction of multidisciplinary platforms, human medical ethics, and the safety and stability of brain-computer fusion systems.
Stroke rehabilitation: the combination of East and West improves the quality of life of patients
According to the data of "China Stroke Report 2019", the stroke mortality rate in China is 149.49/100,000, accounting for 22.3% of the total mortality rate of Chinese residents; at least 1 in every 5 deaths dies of stroke, and the number of stroke patients surviving with the disease has reached 13 million in China, and stroke has become the first cause of premature death and disease burden.
Liu Gang, director of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine of Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University, introduced that with the improvement of medical level, the application of more and more means can make patients who are in a stroke coma wake up as soon as possible, using advanced wake-up medical equipment drugs and rehabilitation treatment technology.
"After stroke, many patients have the most prominent dysfunction of consciousness, swallowing, and dysfunction of motor dysfunction." Liu Gang said that rehabilitation treatment within 3 months of stroke onset is the "golden period", and once the vital signs of comatose patients are stable, rehabilitation and awakening treatment should be carried out as soon as possible.
Liu Gang introduced that patients can use hyperbaric oxygen chambers to promote awakening in time after stroke, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy can improve the radius of blood oxygen diffusion in the brain, reduce intracranial pressure, improve cerebral edema, promote open collateral circulation, and help nerve repair.
At the same time, stroke patients can also use traditional Chinese medicine for rehabilitation to improve or improve the quality of life of patients. Liu Gang introduced that the rehabilitation of traditional Chinese medicine mainly adopts various measures such as spirit, diet regulation, acupuncture and massage, sports health care, drug internal and external application and external washing, and natural rehabilitation method to restore the decline of body function, so as to improve or improve the quality of life of the sick and disabled, with the characteristics of "combination of prevention and treatment", "heterozygous treatment" and "simple and inexpensive test".
Liu Gang pointed out that with the advancement of science and technology in recent years, brain-computer interfaces, near-infrared brain function imaging, exoskeleton robots and other technologies are applied in the rehabilitation treatment of stroke patients, and these technologies provide new ways and methods for the rehabilitation of future brain function.
Liu Gang introduced that the robot using exoskeletons can make patients with stroke and paraplegia stand up and control the exoskeleton robot to achieve free movement of the motor plane class; and the application of near-infrared brain imaging technology can find data on the activity state of the brain area in clinical treatment and accurately give corresponding stimulation; the brain-computer interface can control the exoskeleton device and operate according to the patient's instructions.
In addition, rehabilitation for Alzheimer's disease, also known as senile dementia, is provided. Liu Gang said that adequate exercise has a positive impact on the brain function of the elderly, which can delay the development process of Alzheimer's disease; actively participate in community cultural and sports activities, improve the enthusiasm of patients to participate in sports, improve their functions and improve their physique, and psychologically enhance the patient's self-confidence and self-esteem.
Text/Guangzhou Daily, New Flower City Reporter: Long Kun
Photo/ Guangzhou Daily, New Flower City Reporter: Long Kun
Guangzhou Daily New Flower City Editor: Li Fenghe