MIT Course Numbers: 9.422 ~ 20.352/20.452 ~ MAS.881
Instructor: E.S. Boyden
Units: 3-0-9 Units
Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:30AM-12PM
Place: E14-493

Description

Covers how to innovate technologies for brain analysis and engineering, for accelerating the basic understanding of the brain, and leading to new therapeutic insight and inventions. Focuses on using physical, chemical and biological principles to understand technology design criteria governing ability to observe and alter brain structure and function. Topics include optogenetics, noninvasive brain imaging and stimulation, nanotechnologies, stem cells and tissue engineering, and advanced molecular and structural imaging technologies. Includes design projects. Designed for students with engineering maturity who are ready for design. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
 

Schedule

Part I. Towards ground-truth understanding of the brain. Knowns (principles, building blocks, functions) and unknowns.

9/6, Overview of the class. The nature of principles of neuroengineering. Examples. Introductions.
9/11, Circuit elements of the nervous system. Neurons, glia. Channels, receptors, transmitters. Genes, cell types. Modalities of signaling (ionic, gap junctional, synaptic/chemical, second messenger, diffusible, etc.). New mechanisms (brain-immune, microbiome, etc.).
9/18, Principles of designing tools. Thinking backwards, tiling trees, constructive failures, debugging vs. designing, top-down vs. bottom-up design approaches, roadmapping, architecting, tools for science vs. for the clinic, ease of use, assumption-proofing.
9/20, Macroscopic circuit principles. Brain regions and connectivity, large-scale dynamics. How these past conclusions were influenced by past technologies, and what is unknown or uncertain.
9/27, Microscopic circuit principles. Cell type-specific connectivity, connectomics, gliocircuits. Synapses, structure-function relationships. How these past conclusions were influenced by past technologies, and what is unknown or uncertain.
 

Part II. Technologies for mapping and measurement: molecular, anatomical, and dynamical observation and readout.

10/11, Large-scale mapping and measurement. PET, photoacoustic imaging, MEG, EEG, fMRI, infrared imaging, ultrasound imaging, and more. Overcoming scattering of light. Physical principles of large-scale brain interfacing.
10/30, Fine-scale mapping and measurement. Electrodes, nanoprobes, genetically encoded fluorescent indicators, ticker-tapes, barcoding, optical imaging and light microscopy, electron microscopy, expansion microscopy.
11/1, Midterm presentations.
 

Part III. Technologies for controlling and constructing: molecular, anatomical, and dynamical control and building.

11/13, Large-scale control. Magnetic, electrical, ultrasonic, pharmacological/pharmacogenetic, thermal, interferometric, and more.
11/27, MIT Center for Neurobiological Engineering annual neurotechnology conference (eight guest speakers from around the world; runs all day).
11/29, Fine-scale control. Infrared optical stimulation, optogenetics, nanoparticle-mediated control, uncaging, signaling control.
12/4, Circuit building. Development, 3-D brain building, tissue engineering, stem cells, organoids, gene therapy and viral/trangenic technologies, extracellular matrix.
 

Part IV. Conclusion.

12/11, Final project presentations.