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Posts Tagged ‘traumatic brain injuries’

The $500,000 CAREN -- the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment -- consists of a treadmill, a massive curved screen, and various projectors and cameras that allow the subject six degrees of freedom in moving about his virtual environment. For those learning to use an artificial limb or recovering from a brain injury, that means the ability to relearn how to drive, walk, or navigate an environment from the safety of the hospital.

For those with PTSD or other mental disorders brought on by combat, it means a safe, controlled environment in which service members can slowly reacquaint themselves with the traumatic combat experiences at the root of their disorders. Doctors think this could greatly speed up recovery times and help severely affected patients bring their lives back to normal.

Given the fact that the rate of PTSD in servicemen and women who serve back-to-back tours -- and that's a lot of them these days -- is tremendously high, advanced treatments like CAREN are a top priority for military medical personnel. Such treatment can help them get back in the field with their units or reintegrate them into life minus the war zone.

[Armed With Science, CBC]

The implants would use light pulses to activate certain brain regions and reroute function

Such brain implants made from electrodes or optical fibers would sit on the brain's surface and monitor the electrical signals sent among neurons. They would also beam light pulses to stimulate specific parts of the brain in response, and ideally help the brain function normally despite having damaged areas.

The appropriately-named REPAIR (Reorganization and Plasticity to Accelerate Injury Recovery) project involves a team led by Stanford and Brown universities working with a two-year budget of $14.9 million. First up for the optogenetic tests are mice, rats and eventually monkeys.

Learning how to manage the human brain has been a top priority for DARPA in recent years, given the mad science lab's orders for technology such as cryogenic methods to freeze traumatic brain injury in its tracks. But they also seek to co-opt the brain's power for directly controlling prosthetic limbs usable by wounded warfighters. Even if this latest venture does not directly heal, it may at least help negate the effects of brain injuries so that it's as if they never existed.

[via Wired's Danger Room]

The implants would use light pulses to activate certain brain regions and reroute function

Such brain implants made from electrodes or optical fibers would sit on the brain's surface and monitor the electrical signals sent among neurons. They would also beam light pulses to stimulate specific parts of the brain in response, and ideally help the brain function normally despite having damaged areas.

The appropriately-named REPAIR (Reorganization and Plasticity to Accelerate Injury Recovery) project involves a team led by Stanford and Brown universities working with a two-year budget of $14.9 million. First up for the optogenetic tests are mice, rats and eventually monkeys.

Learning how to manage the human brain has been a top priority for DARPA in recent years, given the mad science lab's orders for technology such as cryogenic methods to freeze traumatic brain injury in its tracks. But they also seek to co-opt the brain's power for directly controlling prosthetic limbs usable by wounded warfighters. Even if this latest venture does not directly heal, it may at least help negate the effects of brain injuries so that it's as if they never existed.

[via Wired's Danger Room]