Neuroscience Initiative:
A Research Standpoin
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Neuroscience refers to the scientific study of the nervous system. Breaking it down further, it is a multidisciplinary discipline that incorporates physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developmental biology, cytology, computer science, and math.

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About Neuroscience

Understanding the Brain

Neuroscientists are getting closer to understanding how brain circuits operate, and what might be done to correct them, thanks to projects like the BRAIN Initiative. Scientists may take photographs of the brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to see how human neural networks work in real time.

Doctors can use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to activate brain circuits in psychiatric patients to help them feel better. Genetic engineering advancements have even led to devices that allow scientists to regulate neuronal circuitry with light.

Utilization of Tools

  • Consumer neuroscience instruments are split into three categories: self-reports and behavioral, physiological, and neurophysiological.
  • Of those instruments there are several tools that are employed in the market for neuroscience research. Their acronyms are as follows: EEG, fMRI, fNIRS, ECG, ET, GSR, and fERS.
  • One drastic difference between physiological and neurophysiological equipment and tests is that the former tends to be less expensive and portable than the latter.

New Innovations

Ian Wickersham and coworkers at MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research are developing novel optogenetics techniques that target particular neurons in wild animal studies that have not been genetically transformed, thanks to BRAIN EAGAR funding.

A research group at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine has been examining the viability of the next generation of DREADD technology to humans rather than the current limitation of animals.