Michela Chiappalone (DIBRIS, University of Genova, Italy) présente un séminaire intitulé : Neuroengineering solutions for restoring brain functions.

Neuroengineering is a multidisciplinary field at the boundaries between neuroscience and engineering. Its primary goal consists of developing instruments which allow a dialogue with a neuronal system, with a twofold perspective: i) to deepen the knowledge on the functioning of the nervous system; ii) to develop systems able to restore functions in case of disability. In our research, we exploit Neuroengineering approaches with the final goal of developing innovative technologies either for ‘replacing’ (i.e. neuroprosthetics for the brain) or for ‘retraining’ (i.e. targeted neuromodulation) brain functions in case of neurological disorders. The results from two projects, related to the topics introduced above, will be presented: (i) restoration of the communication between damaged neuronal assemblies in vitro; (ii) closed-loop paradigms aimed at promoting Hebbian plasticity to repair brain functionality in vivo. Further developments and applications towards translation in humans will be briefly introduced and discussed.

Keywords: in vitro, in vivo, neuromodulation, plasticity, closed-loop, intracortical microstimulation, neuroprosthetics, spike, motor areas, lesion, neural interface, behavior, translation.

Le programme du séminaire est consultable sur la page web dédiée au Graduate Program Numeric