- Inspired by the field of optogenetics, which controls certain genetically modified neurons with light, South Korean scientists have used a similar method to use magnetic energy.
- In a series of experiments, scientists were able to control the feeding, companionship, and parental behavior of the mouse by controlling certain areas of the lateral hypothalamus.
- This method may prove useful in the treatment of neurological disorders or perhaps improve the results of the already growing transcranial magnetic stimulation.
When people answer the age-old question of what power they want, control of the mind is often very high. Now scientists from the Institute of Basic Science (IBS) and Yonsei University in South Korea are taking a big step to make that thinking more realistic by using gravity to control mice.
And this is not just to improve another interesting part of the Professor X cosplay – an achievement that may one day help scientists understand the higher functioning of the brain in humans while solving some of the problems our mental health.
To create this sci-fi-esque technology, the team developed the Magnetogenetic Interface for NeuroDynamics, or Nano-MIND, a device, designed to control specific areas of the brain related to knowledge, emotions and motivation. In fact, this method—known as magnetogenetics—uses nanoparticle switches that can be turned on and off with non-invasive magnetic fields, allowing the control of certain abnormal brain functions. The results of the study were published in the journal Natural nanotechnology.
“This is the world’s first technology to freely control specific areas of the brain using magnetic fields,” director of the IBS Center for Nanomedicine Jinwoo Cheon, co-author of the study, said in a press statement. . “We expect it to be widely used in research to understand brain function, advanced neural networks, two-way brain and computer technology, and new treatments for neurological diseases.”
Using gravity for therapeutic purposes is not new, but trying to find a measurable amount of specific mind control is, and to achieve this world first, IBS scientists went they begin targeting receptors in the brain’s hypothalamus, an area closely related to eating and reward behavior.
According to the researchers, when the mice entered the magnetic field with switches in their excitatory neurons, this led to a 50 percent reduction in feeding behavior when the same switches in the inhibitory neurons have increased by 100 percent. Similar experiments in the lateral hypothalamus also induced some social behavior as a mouse under the influence of gravity became familiar with other unknown mice.
Finally, the team conducted experiments targeting the medial preoptic area, another brain region of the hypothalamus closely associated with parental attention. The results showed that the mouse implanted with Nano-MIND responded more directly to the cries of the pups than those without any kind of stimulation.
This field of magnetogenetics comes directly from previous experiments using optogenetic methods. In 2016 scientists at Stanford University installed LED lights (so optgenetics) in veins found in the head and right leg of a mouse. Similarly, this method can “turn on” genetically modified neurons designed to respond to light rays. Meanwhile, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has already shown promise in relieving the symptoms of severe depression in humans, and although medical procedures such as the Nano-MIND device are somewhat complex, the technique may one day provide similar therapeutic results for various human neurological diseases. .
Of course, changing the mouse brain is a little different than the complex neural network found in the human brain – after all, the mouse brain has only 75 million neurons, while the human brain has in 86. billions.
Hey, no one ever said being an X-Man would be easy.
Darren lives in Portland, has a cat, and writes/edits about sci-fi and how our world works. You can find his past stuff on Gizmodo and Paste if you look hard enough.
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