MIT Course Numbers: 9.422 ~ 20.452 ~ MAS.881
Instructor: E.S. Boyden
Units: H-level ~ 3-0-9 Units
Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:30AM-12PM
Place: E14-525

Description

Covers principles underlying current and future technologies for brain analysis and engineering, for neurology, psychiatry, and neuroscience. Focuses on using physical, chemical and biological modeling to understand technology design principles governing ability to observe and alter brain functions. Topics include functional magnetic resonance imaging, electromagnetic recording and optogenetics, nanotechnology and stem cells. Design projects by students. Limited to 28.
 

Schedule

Part I. The Primitives for Engineering the Brain

Thurs 9/6, Overview. Introductions.
Tues 9/11, Circuit elements of the nervous system. Neurons, glia, blood vessels. Channels, receptors, DNA, RNA.
Tues 9/25, Macroscopic circuits, brain region connectivity and architecture, circuit dynamics.
Thurs 9/27, Microscopic circuits, cell type connectivity, disease, gliocircuits.
Tues 10/2, Paper discussions - Circuit elements of the nervous system.

Part II. Technologies for Observation and Readout

Thurs 10/4, Noninvasve macrocircuit readout I. photoacoustic readout, MEG, EEG.
Thurs 10/18, Microcircuit readout. Electrodes, optical imaging, two-photon microscopy.
Thurs 10/25, Midterm presentations.
Tues 10/30, Microcircuit stimulation. DBS, infrared optical stimulation, optical sensitizers such as channelrhodopsin-2/halorhodopsin.
Thurs 11/1, Paper discussions - Macrocircuit and microcircuit readout and stimulation.

Part III. Technologies for Making and Controlling

Tues 11/6, Macrocircuit stimulation. TMS, tDCS, ultrasound.
Thurs 11/8, Paper discussions - Microcircuit and macrocircuit stimulation.
Thurs 11/15, Pharmacology, chemicals, nanoparticles, DNA origami.
Tues 11/20, Gene therapy and viral/transgenic technologies, stem cells and tissue engineering.
Thurs 11/29, MRI and fMRI. Recent directions in nano/genetic engineering.

Part IV. Final Presentations

Tues 12/4, first set of teams.
Thurs 12/6, last set of teams.