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In the past 50 years there has been an explosion of interest in the development of technologies whose end goal is to connect the human brain and/or nervous system directly to computers. Once the subject of science fiction, the technologies necessary to accomplish this goal are rapidly becoming reality. In laboratories around the globe, research is being undertaken to restore function to the physically disabled, to replace areas of the brain damaged by disease or trauma and to augment human abilities. Building neural interfaces and neuro-prosthetics relies on a diverse array of disciplines such as neuroscience, engineering, medicine and microfabrication just to name a few. This book presents a short history of neural interfacing (N.I.) research and introduces the reader to some of the current efforts to develop neural prostheses. The book is intended as an introduction for the college freshman or others wishing to learn more about the field. A resource guide is included for students along with a list of laboratories conducting N.I. research and universities with N.I. related tracks of study. Table of Contents: Neural Interfaces Past and Present / Current Neuroprosthesis Research / Conclusion / Resources for Students

Discover the hidden electrical world inside your nervous system using DIY, hands-on experiments, for all ages. No MD or PhD required!The workings of the brain are mysterious: What are neural signals? What do they mean? How do our senses really sense? How does our brain control our movements? What happens when we meditate? Techniques to record signals from living brains were once thought to be the realm of advanced university labs... but not anymore! This book allows anyone to participate in the discovery of neuroscience through hands-on experiments that record the hidden electrical world beneath our skin and skulls. In How Your Brain Works, neuroscientists Greg Gage and Tim Marzullo offer a practical guide—accessible and useful to readers from middle schoolers to college undergraduates to curious adults—for learning about the brain through hands-on experiments. Armed with some DIY electrodes, readers will get to see what brain activity really looks like through simple neuroscience experiments. Written by two neuroscience researchers who invented open-source techniques to record signals from neurons, muscles, hearts, eyes, and brains, How Your Brain Works includes more than forty-five experiments to gain a deeper understanding of your brain. Using a homemade scientific instrument called a SpikerBox, readers can see how fast neural signals travel by recording electrical signals from an earthworm. Or, turning themselves into subjects, readers can strap on some electrode stickers to detect the nervous system in their own bodies. Each chapter begins by describing some phenomenology of a particular area of neuroscience, then guides readers step-by-step through an experiment, and concludes with a series of open-ended questions to inspire further investigation. Some experiments use invertebrates (such as insects), and the book provides a thoughtful framework for the ethical use of these animals in education. How Your Brain Works offers fascinating reading for students at any level, curious readers, and scientists interested in using electrophysiology in their research or teaching.Example Experiments • How fast do signals travel down a neuron? The brain uses electricity... but do neurons communicate as fast as lightning inside our bodies? In this experiment you will make a speed trap for spikes! • Can we really enhance our memories during sleep? Strap on a brainwave-reading sweatband and test the power of cueing up and strengthening memories while you dream away! • Wait, that's my number! Ever feel that moment of excitement when you see your number displayed while waiting for an opening at the counter? In this experiment, you will peer into your brainwaves to see what happens when the unexpected occurs and how the brain gets your attention. • Using hip hop to talk to the brain. Tired of simply “reading” the electricity from the brain? Would you like to “write” to the nervous system as well? In this experiment you will use a smartphone and hack a headphone cable to see how brain stimulators (used in treating Parkinson's disease) really work. • How long does it take the brain to decide? Using simple classroom rulers and a clever technique, readers can determine how long it takes the brain to make decisions.

Conducting polymers are organic polymers which contain conjugation along the polymer backbone that conduct electricity. Conducting polymers are promising materials for energy storage applications because of their fast charge–discharge kinetics, high charge density, fast redox reaction, low-cost, ease of synthesis, tunable morphology, high power capability and excellent intrinsic conductivity compared with inorganic-based materials. Conducting Polymers-Based Energy Storage Materials surveys recent advances in conducting polymers and their composites addressing the execution of these materials as electrodes in electrochemical power sources. Key Features: Provides an overview on the conducting polymer material properties, fundamentals and their role in energy storage applications. Deliberates cutting-edge energy storage technology based on synthetic metals (conducting polymers) Covers current applications in next-generation energy storage devices. Explores the new aspects of conducting polymers with processing, tunable properties, nanostructures and engineering strategies of conducting polymers for energy storage. Presents up-to-date coverage of a large, rapidly growing and complex conducting polymer literature on all-types electrochemical power sources. This book is an invaluable guide for students, professors, scientists, and R&D industrial specialists working in the field of advanced science, nanodevices, flexible electronics, and energy science.

This handbook volume aims to provide a comprehensive, self-contained, and authoritative reference in MEMS. It covers the theoretical and practical aspects including but not limited to sensors, actuators, RF MEMS, micro fluids and bio MEMS systems. It is particularly recommended to undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers, scientists, and field experts. This comprehensive summary will provide a solid knowledge background and inspire innovations in this highly interdisciplinary field.The handbook series consists of 5 volumes: Micro/nano fabrication technology, MEMS, Nanomaterial, Nanomedicine and Applications of micro-/nanotechnologies in IT. Experienced researchers and experts are invited to contribute in each of these areas.The series is published under Springer Major Reference works, which allows continuous online update and publication. These features allow newcomers and other readers to keep in touch with the most up-to-date information in micro-/nanotechnologies.It presents an overview of the knowledge base, as well as selected topics and provides comprehensive and authoritative information on the field for researchers, engineers, scientists and graduate students who are involved in different aspects of micro-/nanotechnologies.This publication will provide inspiration for innovative research and application ideas for continued growth of the field.

To provide users with the only comprehensive guide containing contact information, information about the programs, staffing, publications and activities of 9,258 research centers, laboratories, institutes, experiment stations and more. Research is either conducted by or supported by the national governments of the US and Canada.

In the quest to understand and model the healthy or sick human body, re­ searchers and medical doctors are utilizing more and more quantitative tools and techniques. This trend is pushing the envelope of a new field we call Biomedical Computing, as an exciting frontier among signal processing, pattern recognition, optimization, nonlinear dynamics, computer science and biology, chemistry and medicine. A conference on Biocomputing was held during February 25-27, 2001 at the University of Florida. The conference was sponsored by the Center for Applied Optimization, the Computational Neuroengineering Center, the Biomedical En­ gineering Program (through a Whitaker Foundation grant), the Brain Institute, the School of Engineering, and the University of Florida Research & Graduate Programs. The conference provided a forum for researchers to discuss and present new directions in Biocomputing. The well-attended three days event was highlighted by the presence of top researchers in the field who presented their work in Biocomputing. This volume contains a selective collection of ref­ ereed papers based on talks presented at this conference. You will find seminal contributions in genomics, global optimization, computational neuroscience, FMRI, brain dynamics, epileptic seizure prediction and cancer diagnostics. We would like to take the opportunity to thank the sponsors, the authors of the papers, the anonymous referees, and Kluwer Academic Publishers for making the conference successful and the publication of this volume possible. Panos M. Pardalos and Jose C.

Computational neuroscience is best defined by its focus on understanding the nervous systems as a computational device rather than by a particular experimental technique. Accordinlgy, while the majority of the papers in this book describe analysis and modeling efforts, other papers describe the results of new biological experiments explicitly placed in the context of computational issues. The distribution of subjects in Computation and Neural Systems reflects the current state of the field. In addition to the scientific results presented here, numerous papers also describe the ongoing technical developments that are critical for the continued growth of computational neuroscience. Computation and Neural Systems includes papers presented at the First Annual Computation and Neural Systems meeting held in San Francisco, CA, July 26--29, 1992.

A recognizable surge in the field of Brain Computer Interface (BCI) research and development has emerged in the past two decades. This book is intended to provide an introduction to and summary of essentially all major aspects of BCI research and development. Its goal is to be a comprehensive, balanced, and coordinated presentation of the field's key principles, current practice, and future prospects.

Selected, peer reviewed papers from the 10th Asia-Pacific Conference on Materials Processing (APCMP 2012), June 14-17, 2012, Jinan, China

This volume includes papers presented at the Third Annual Computation and Neural Systems meeting (CNS•94) held in Monterey California, July 21 - July 26, 1994. This collection includes 71 of the more than 100 papers presented at this year's meeting. Acceptance for meeting presentation was based on the peer review of preliminary papers by at least two referees. The papers in this volume were submitted in final form after the meeting. As represented by this volume, CNS meetings continue to expand in quality, size and breadth of focus as increasing numbers of neuroscientists are taking a computational approach to understanding nervous system function. The CNS meetings are intended to showcase the best of current research in computational neuroscience. As such the meeting is fundamentally focused on understanding the relationship between the structure of neIVOUS systems and their function. What is clear from the continued expansion of the CNS meetings is that computational approaches are increasingly being applied at all levels of neurobiological analysis. in an ever growing number of experimental preparations. and neural subsystems. Thus. experimental subjects range from crickets to primates; sensory systems range from vision to electroreception; experimental approaches range from realistic models of ion channels to the analysis of the information content of spike trains. For this reason, the eNS meetings represent an opportunity for computational neurobiologists to consider their research results in a much broader context than is usually possible.

In the past 50 years there has been an explosion of interest in the development of technologies whose end goal is to connect the human brain and/or nervous system directly to computers. Once the subject of science fiction, the technologies necessary to accomplish this goal are rapidly becoming reality. In laboratories around the globe, research is being undertaken to restore function to the physically disabled, to replace areas of the brain damaged by disease or trauma and to augment human abilities. Building neural interfaces and neuro-prosthetics relies on a diverse array of disciplines such as neuroscience, engineering, medicine and microfabrication just to name a few. This book presents a short history of neural interfacing (N.I.) research and introduces the reader to some of the current efforts to develop neural prostheses. The book is intended as an introduction for the college freshman or others wishing to learn more about the field. A resource guide is included for students along with a list of laboratories conducting N.I. research and universities with N.I. related tracks of study. Table of Contents: Neural Interfaces Past and Present / Current Neuroprosthesis Research / Conclusion / Resources for Students

Introduction Welcome Message of Congress Presidents On behalf of the Organizing Committee, we would like to extend our warmest welcome to all colleagues participating in the World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering 2006. We hope you will join us, taking advantage of this opportunity to learn the latest advancements in the field, to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones, and to take in the sights and sounds of Seoul. WC 2006 offers a strong and diverse scientific program covering a wide range of issues and challenges that are currently present in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering on the theme of “Imaging the Future Medicine. ” Approximately, 2,500 papers will be presented in oral and poster sessions on the 25 tracks covering around 250 sessions. In addition to the proffered presentations, you will have access to 15 symposium, 4 workshop, 15 short course and 15 continuing education course sponsored by AAPM during the congress. We have also invited numerous speakers from the world. 10 plenary spe- ers and more than 100 invited speakers will give us their perspective on the challenges and opportunities ahead for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering and their potential to contribute to improved health care throughout the world. In particular, we wish to extend sincere thanks to the track chairs, session chairs, international advisors and Scientific P- gram Committee members for their hard work and invaluable assistance performed on a voluntary basis in putting the c- gress together over the past year.

Neuroprosthetics is an area of intense scientific and clinical interest and rapid progress. Since the introduction of the cardiac pacemaker in 1932, we have seen developments that include cochlear prostheses, techniques for bladder and bowel control, deep brain stimulation, and restoration of mobility and respiration to paralyzed individuals.The chapters in this book have been contributed by authors who are recognized internationally in their fields. The result is a comprehensive and up-to-date review that will be invaluable to graduate students, clinicians and researchers in neuroprosthetics. It is broadly divided into three sections: Section 1 provides a core of knowledge that forms a foundation for the rest of the book, and covers the basics of neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, biomaterials and biocompatibility, stimulation and recording techniques; Section 2 describes current clinical applications of neuroprosthetics; Section 3 looks at future developments in the field.