Sen. Lincoln Chafee '75, R-R.I., met with a team of internationally recognized University researchers Monday morning for a presentation on neurotechnology by John Donoghue, professor and chair of the Department of Neuroscience and director of the University's Brain Science Program.
Chafee secured $2 million over the last two fiscal years for neurotechnological research at Brown. The University is now requesting an additional $5 million to continue its research, with hopes of establishing a center for neurotechnology at Brown in the near future.
Neurotechnology is an emerging field dedicated to designing devices that attach to the nervous system, often the surface of the brain itself. These devices help restore loss of function - particularly for people who have suffered spinal cord injuries or have lost a limb - through remote control of machines by brain signals.
Future applications for neurotechnology include enabling amputees to control prosthetics and, eventually, enabling the paralyzed to move their limbs.
Donoghue created the Brain Science Program at Brown in 1998 and co-founded Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems Inc. in 2002 in order to translate researchers' findings into clinical applications for humans.
In addition to the hundreds of thousands of people with nervous system disorders who could benefit from neurotechnology, the military could also make use of future capabilities in robotics and so-called "brain machines."
Cyberkinetics is currently executing an FDA-approved clinical trial of a neuromotor prosthesis known as BrainGate. The device enables quadriplegics to carry out tasks like controlling a television, drawing with a mouse cursor on a screen and turning lights on and off - using only their brains.
So far, two patients have been implanted with the device, including one patient named Matthew, who was paralyzed from the head down by a knife wound to the neck.
Neurotechnology requires open communication between expert researchers in neuroscience, neurosurgery, computer science, applied mathematics, engineering and physics, which is part of what makes the work at Brown some of the most cutting-edge in the country, according to Donaghue.
"That's a usual feature of many of the scientific interactions at Brown," he said. "There's this mixture, (a) sort of seamless, borderless mixture of disciplines. ... It's unusual for people like that to work together, and that's one of the most powerful aspects of this research and why we can do such complicated things so well."
Donaghue cited the remarkable progress made in neurotechnology in the last decade as evidence that it is a "success story for government funding." He has xrecently made great strides with Arto Nurmikko, professor of engineering, to miniaturize and internalize the neuromotor prosthesis much like a cardiac pacemaker, eliminating the need for wires or bulky equipment. Michael Black, professor of computer science, is collaborating with them to improve the neural decoding device so it can create signals for more complex motor tasks, like grasping.
Donaghue praised the NIH for supporting the "slow, steady development of knowledge" that leads to innovation in the field, but he emphasized the need for continued support for development of neuromotor devices like Matthew's and, particularly, support for their application to the public.
"(Neurotechnology) is a set of research that takes NIH/NSF-supported basic science findings and translates them into something that will have a huge impact on persons with disabilities," Donaghue said.
No comment on Bolton
In Washington, Chafee has drawn attention recently for what many believe will be his determining vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on President George W. Bush's nomination of John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations.
Democrats are hoping that Chafee will break with party lines and vote against Bolton's confirmation. The Associated Press reported that Chafee has not commented on his intention since last week, when he said he planned to support Bolton even though "he would not be my choice" for the job. The Senate committee is expected to vote today.
While in Providence, Chafee would not comment on how he intended to vote, focusing on neurotechnology rather than international politics.
