Building Better Brains: Neural Prosthetics and Beyond
Conference: 09/23-25/2010 - The Given Institute - Aspen, CO

The use of neural prosthetics to replace motor, sensory, or cognitive
functions lost by disease or injury holds great therapeutic promise. However,
neural prosthetics have not yet been widely used in humans. This meeting will
highlight the most cutting-edge developments in the field of neural
prosthetics and a will include a careful review of the current obstacles to
using neural prosthetics therapeutically, as well as the related ethical and
regulatory issues.  The conference agenda will address the following issues;
1) presentation of the most recent advances in basic neurobiological research
to inform development of neural prosthetics, 2) an overview of cutting-edge
discoveries in bioengineering and materials that will allow for the
development of neural prosthetic devices that function effectively within the
human body, 3) discussion of how to improve upon the clinical trial results
on neural prosthetics, 4) the unique regulatory and ethical problems that are
associated with using neural prosthetics in people, and 5) how to use neural
prosthetics to treat disorders including not only neurodegenerative diseases
and paralysis, but also depression and epilepsy. 

Visit the conference website to view the agenda and abstracts:
http://www.nyas.org/betterbrains