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Cognitive Functions
"Boosting Our Gray Matter," Business Week, Sep 2007Working with rats, University of Southern California's Theodore W. Berger learned how neurons responsible for memory react to varying patterns of electrical stimulation. His team has turned those reactions into equations on chips, which will soon be implanted in a rat's hippocampus.
"The Ideas Engine Needs A Tuneup," Washington Post, Jun 2007David Ignatius reports from the Highlands Conference, a Pentagon-funded group that brings together defense officials and scientists for regular discussions. Dr. Berger's presentation and the Center for Neural Engineering research was particularly noted as "most impressive."
"The Memory Hacker," Popular Science, Apr 2007Ted Berger has spent the past decade engineering a brain implant that can recreate thoughts. The chip would remedy everything from Alzheimer's to absent-mindedness — and reduce memory loss to nothing more than a computer glitch.
"Chipping In," SciAmerican, Feb 2007Supplanting the human brain with computer power has been a staple of science fiction. Scientific American looks at the replacement of damaged brain tissue in rats with a neural prosthesis at the Neural Engineering Labs at USC.
"Restoring Lost Cognitive Function," IEEE, Sep/Oct 2005Hippocampal–Cortical Neural Prostheses.
"The Chips Inside You," Laptop, December 2005Biotech implants are real for some and really scary for others.
"Great Minds Great Ideas," Discover, November 2005Ted Berger and John Granacki: Engineering on the cusp of computers and the brain.
"The Forgotten Era Of Brain Chips," Scientific American, October 2005The work of Jose Delgado, a pioneering star in brain-stimulation research four decades ago, goes largely unacknowledged today. What happened?
"Frontiers Of Science," Discover, October 2005The bionic age begins. Neural implants treat tremors, paralysis, and even memory loss.
"A New Kind of Memory," Newsweek, October 2004Ted Berger squints through a microscope at a slice of rat brain the size of an infant's fingernail. It's resting on an array of microelectrodes, which eavesdrops on the murmrs of nerve cells.
"Chips Coming to a Brain Near You," Wired, October 2004In this era of high-tech memory management, next in line to get that memory upgrade isn't your computer, it's you.
"The Myth of Mind Control," Discover, October 2004Will anyone ever decode the human brain?.
"Brain Prosthesis Passes Live Tissue Test," NewScientist, October 2004"The microchip, designed to model a part of the brain called the hippocampus, has been used successfully to replace a neural circuit in slices of rat brain tissue kept alive in a dish...The device could ultimately be used to replace damaged brain tissue which may have been destroyed in an accident, during a stroke, or by neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. It is the first attempt to replace central brain regions dealing with cognitive functions such as learning or speech."
"Can An Electronic Device
Replace Damaged Brain Circuits," Popular Science, June 2003.pdfBiomedical engineer Theodore Berger has created a 2 mm-wide silicon chip that he hopes will one day substitute for damaged or diseased brain regions.
"World's First Brain Prosthesis Revealed," New Scientist, March 2003The world's first brain prosthesis — an artifical hippocampus — is about to be tested in California. Unlike devices like cochlear implants, which merely stimulate brain activity, this silicon chip implant will perform the same processes as the damaged part of the brain it is replacing.
"Building the Bionic Brain" Trojan Family Magazine, Winter 2002Neurons and silicon commingling in a soup of living, cognitively functioning "wetware"? It sounds like science fiction, but for Ted Berger and his crack team of USC neuroscientists, computer whizzes and biomedical and electrical engineers, it’s a break-through about to happen.
"USC Engineers Look to the Brain For the
Next-Generation Computer,"USC News Service July 2002USC Engineers are tapping the brain to develop the next generation of computer chip, a chip that will be more resilient to damage and better at a host of tasks involving pattern recognition.
"What's Next; A Chip That Mimics Neurons," New York Times, June 2002One day, a computer chip may do some of the work of a damaged hippocampus, replacing living neurons with silicon ones.
"Brain Implantable Biomimetic Electronics," Proceedings of the IEEE, July 2001An interdisciplinary miltilaboratory effort to devlop an implantable neural prosthetic that can coexist and bidirectionally communicate with living brain tissue is described.
Speech Recognition
"Superhuman Speech Machine," Wired, October 1999Researchers at the University of Southern California say they have developed a system markedly better than people at recognizing spoken speech.
"No More Swearing At Your Computer," News In Science, October 1999Californian biomedical engineers have announced their creation of a computer neural network that can recognize spoken words — even better than humans.
"Machine Demonstrates Super Human Speech," USC News Service, September 1999University of Southern California biomedical engineers have created the world's first machine system that recognize spoken words better than humans can.
Gunshot Acoustic Recognition
"When A Shot Rings Out," New York Times, December 2004In an unusual application of neuroscience research, police agencies around the country may soon be able to equip street corners with microphones and video cameras to fight gun-related crime.
"SENTRI Surveillance," Gizmag, December 2004A microphone surveillance system based on brain cell research is being used to combay shootings on the streets of Chicago and Los Angeles.
"A Great Listener," MIT Technology Review, November 2004A new audio surveillance system could help fight drime in the city and protect kilometers of unmanned borders.
"Waiting For The Gun," USC News Service, November 2004A USC engineer uses his experise with nerve cells to create a surveillance system that can recognize the sound of a nearby gunshot — and identify the shooter.
"Did You Know That," Wired, November 2004All ears: The SENTRI listens to the streets in Chicago.
"SENTRI In Chicago," USC News Service, November 2004A University of Southern California biomedical engineer's pioneering brain cell research has led directly to a patented system that is now being rolled out to stem gun violence in the streets of Chicago, and, soon, Los Angeles.
"SENTRI In Chicago," Chicago Sun Times, April 2004Big brother isn't just watching the bad guys in Chicago. By late summer, he'll be listening as well — for the sound of gunshots.
Cognitive Control Signals for Neural Prosthetics