160824 Integrated Neurophotonics:Nanotechnology for Massively-Parallel Mapping of Brain Activity
Integrated Neurophotonics:Nanotechnology for Massively-Parallel Mapping of Brain Activity
Prof. Michael Roukes
Robert M. Abbey Professor of Physics, Applied Physics, & Bioengineering
California Institute of Technology
4:00 pm, Aug 24th
KI Bldg. (E4), Matrix hall (2ndfloor)
Abstract
In2011, six U.S. scientists from different disciplines banded together,outlined a vision[1], and managed to convince the Obama administration of the unprecedented opportunity that now exists to launch a coordinated, large-scale effort to map brain activity. This culminated in the U.S. BRAIN Initiative(Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies), which was launched in 2013. Our perspective was predicated, in part, on the current level of maturity of diverse fields of nanotechnology that can now be coalesced to realize powerful new tools for neuroscience. I will outline some of the hopes we had and the assertions we made, survey the existing technological landscape for massively parallel mapping of brain activity, and then focus upon our own collaborative efforts toward these goals. I will highlight opportunities in the new field of integrated neurophotonics for realizing this vision – one that leverages advances in integrated nanophotonics, optical reporters and effectors for neural recording and stimulation, and recent developments in multisite neural nanoprobes based on silicon large-scaleintegration.