Focus on neurotechnologies

Neurotechnologies have come very far in just a few years, and going forward we can expect them to provide new approaches to shed light on brain function and contribute novel therapeutic interventions for clinic use. In basic neuroscience, a diversity of molecular approaches are enabling researchers to track and manipulate the activity of specific neuronal populations in the brain and peripheral nervous systems of freely moving mice. In the clinic, although surgical and small-molecule approaches traditionally have provided treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders, these remain blunt therapeutic instruments, often accompanied by considerable side effects in return for limited efficacy. Today, electrode arrays allow the recording and stimulation of neurons with a high degree of precision are being engineered to be flexible and soft, injected into deep-brain structures with a syringe, and connected to decoders and actuators. This is opening up new opportunities for restoring lost function that allow control of robotic arms in quadriplegic patients.