Neurology

The potential to restore function after paralysis is only one potential benefit of harnessing the power of intracortical signals. Our research team is also exploring the use of these information-rich neural signals to better understand and treat other neurological disorders and diseases.

For example:

- Three million people in the United States and 50 million people worldwide suffer from epilepsy. Approximately 30% of epilepsy patients continue to have seizures despite maximal medical management. We hypothesize that the unprecedented level of detail enabled by recording ensembles of single neurons (10s-100s of neurons) not only will allow us to study how seizures start, but will also lead to the generation of warning signals and the creation of next-generation devices that can reduce or stop seizures. We are testing this hypothesis with the help of patients with seizures who are already scheduled for pre-surgical recordings for epilepsy management, and believe this work may lead to a sea change in the way we treat and understand epilepsy.

Research supported by: