Controlling the Brain with Magnetic Fields. Root Access to Appetite and Parental Instincts
I am quite skeptical about the government spreading chips into the brain to control people. A person who believes in this has never tried to organize an event in a company or a small city holiday. And it is difficult to control the masses. But improving your own behavior patterns is much more interesting.
In a newly published study, scientists from the Institute of Basic Science (IBS) and Yonsei University (both in South Korea) tested technology that allows remote and accurate manipulate certain areas of the brain using magnetic fields.
Connecting brain control
This is the world's first technology that allows free control of specific areas of the brain using magnetic fields. We expect that it will be widely used in research to improve our understanding of the brain. And will help in the development of complex artificial neural networks, bilateral BCI technologies [интерфейс человек-мозг-компьютер] and new methods of treating neurological disorders.
Jeong Jinwoo from the Center for Nanomedicine at IBS, Department of Nanobiomedical Engineering at Yonsei University and co-author of the study.
The researchers’ cutting-edge technology is called Nano-MIND, which stands for Magnetogenetic Interface for NeuroDynamics. Several technologies currently exist for interfering with the brain. Optogenetics, which controls neurons using light, and electrical deep brain stimulation, used to treat Parkinson’s disease, are available. But they require implanting electrodes in the brain, while magnetic stimulation remains a wireless, remotely controlled technology.
Nano-MIND technology is based on magnetic fields and magnetized nanoparticles. Certain types of neurons are genetically modified to express “magnetoreceptors” that attract injected magnetized nanoparticles to their surfaces. The neurons are activated when tiny magnets attached to the receptors change their positions in response to very weak, externally directed rotating magnetic fields.
Controlling the brains of mice
The researchers tested Nano-MIND in free-roaming mice. The goal was to modulate social behavior and feeding habits. In one experiment, the scientists selectively activated GABA inhibitors in neurons in the medial preoptic area (mPOA) of the hypothalamus. This is the area responsible for parenting. When the neurons were activated in female mice that were not mothers, the mice began to care for their young.
That is, the magnetic field and nanoparticles in the brain contributed to the fact that mice without offspring themselves wanted and began to take care of the mice. At the same time, it was observed more than fourfold increase in care timeControl mice showed no interest in the pups.
In another experiment, the researchers targeted circuits in the lateral hypothalamus, a complex brain region involved in regulating many physiological processes, including eating. Activating inhibitory neurons in this region led to a 100% increase in appetite and eating behavior; while activating excitatory neurons decreased appetite and eating behavior by more than 50%.
The prospects that such brain control leads to
Experiments have shown that Nano-MIND technology can selectively activate specific neurons and circuits to modulate higher brain functions, opening the way to advances in neuroscience and potential therapeutic applications.
IN articleCommenting on the study, PhD Felix Leroy from the Institute of Neurosciences of Alicante, Spain, said that while the technology “offers advantages such as wireless and long-term stimulation capabilities that could revolutionise the field by allowing non-invasive and precise manipulation of brain activity, including deep and distant areas”, the study has its limitations.
The most significant drawback is that the long-term effects of magnetic stimulation, which exerts repetitive mechanical force on the cell surface, are unknown and require further study.
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