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[Music] With this tool we
can begin to understand how groups of neurons process sensory and motor information.
What is it that allows us to see when our retina is activated? And what is it that allows me to move my arm gracefully in space?
What is the firing pattern and the groups of neurons that cause this to happen.
The Utah electrode array consists of 100 micro electrodes, little micro needles that
are about a millimeter and a half long that project out from a silicon substrate.
The needles are extremely sharp. And so this device can be implanted into the cerebral cortex or into the peripheral nervous system.
And that allows us to communicate effectively with hundreds of individual neurons
and in a number of diseases the peripheral nerves are perfectly functional.
However, the commands that originate and the motor parts of the brain are blocked from reaching these nerves by the spinal cord injury.
So by appropriate stimulation of microelectrode arrays that are implanted in the
peripheral nerves we can stimulate these nerves and recreate useful muscular functions.
An example of what we're trying to do in terms of therapeutic interventions is to
restore sight in individuals who have lost sight because of trauma or disease.
The Utah electrode array now is being used by researchers around the world who are studying both not only
basic science questions, but also applications that can help restore function to those who have lost it.
I'm very hopeful that this technology will really allow us to come up with entirely new
therapeutic approaches to disorders of the nervous system that have never been possible before. --
[Music]