The smart folks over at the University of Calgary have developed a new technology that monitors brain cell activity at a resolution that has not been achieved before. The new silicon chips are simpler to use, and will help in the future understanding of how brain cells work under normal conditions and permit drug discoveries for a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. These new neurochips are automated, so that anyone can learn to place individual brain cells on them. Now larger networks of cells can be placed on a chip and observed in minute detail, allowing the analysis of several brain cells networking and performing automatic, large-scale drug screening for various brain dysfunctions.
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