neurotechnology neurotechnology neurotechnology encompasses any method or electronic device which interfaces with the nervous system to monitor or modulate neural activity. common design goals for neurotechnologies include using neural activity readings to control external devices such as neuroprosthetics, altering neural activity via neuromodulation to repair or normalize function affected by neurological disorders, or augmenting cognitive abilities. in addition to their therapeutic or commercial uses, neurotechnologies also constitute powerful research tools to advance fundamental neuroscience knowledge. some examples of neurotechnologies include deep brain stimulation, photostimulation based on optogenetics and photopharmacology, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and brain–computer interfaces, such as cochlear implants and retinal implants. background the field of neurotechnology has been around for nearly half a century but has only reached maturity in the last twenty years. the advent of brain imaging revolutionized the field, allowing researchers to directly monitor the brain's activities during experiments. practice in neurotechnology can be found in fields such as pharmaceutical practices, be it from drugs for depression, sleep, adhd, or anti-neurotics to cancer scanning, stroke rehabilitation, etc. many in the field aim to control and harness more of what the brain does and how it influences lifestyles and personalities. commonplace technologies already attempt to do this; games like brainage, and programs like fast forword that aim to improve brain function, are neurotechnologies. currently, modern science can image nearly all aspects of the brain as well as control a degree of the function of the brain. it can help control depression, over-activation, sleep deprivation, and many other conditions. therapeutically it can help improve stroke patients' motor coordination, improve brain function, reduce epileptic episodes (see epilepsy), improve patients with degenerative motor diseases (parkinson's disease, huntington's disease, als), and can even help alleviate phantom pain perception. advances in the field promise many new enhancements and rehabilitation methods for patients with neurological problems. the neurotechnology revolution has given rise to the decade of the mind initiative, which was started in 2007. it also offers the possibility of revealing the mechanisms by which mind and consciousness emerge from the brain. types deep brain stimulation main article: deep brain stimulation deep brain stimulation is currently used in patients with movement disorders to improve the quality of life in patients. transcranial magnetic stimulation main articles: transcranial magnetic stimulation and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy transcranial magnetic stimulation (tms) is a technique for applying magnetic fields to the brain to manipulate electrical activity at specific loci in the brain. this field of study is currently receiving a large amount of attention due to the potential benefits that could come out of better understanding this technology. transcranial magnetic movement of particles in the brain shows promise for drug targeting and delivery as studies have demonstrated this to be noninvasive on brain physiology. transcranial magnetic stimulation is a relatively new method of studying how the brain functions and is used in many research labs focused on behavioral disorders, epilepsy, ptsd, migraine, hallucinations, and other disorders. currently, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is being researched to see if positive behavioral effects of tms can be made more permanent. some techniques combine tms and another scanning method such as eeg to get additional information about brain activity such as cortical response. transcranial direct current stimulation main article: transcranial direct current stimulation transcranial direct current stimulation (tdcs) is a form of neurostimulation which uses constant, low current delivered via electrodes placed on the scalp. the mechanisms underlying tdcs effects are still incompletely understood, but recent advances in neurotechnology allowing for in vivo assessment of brain electric activity during tdcs promise to advance understanding of these mechanisms. research into using tdcs on healthy adults have demonstrated that tdcs can increase cognitive performance on a variety of tasks, depending on the area of the brain being stimulated. tdcs has been used to enhance language and mathematical ability (though one form of tdcs was also found to inhibit math learning), attention span, problem solving, memory, and coordination. electrophysiology electroencephalography (eeg) is a method of measuring brainwave activity non-invasively. a number of electrodes are placed around the head and scalp and electrical signals are measured. clinically, eegs are used to study epilepsy as well as stroke and tumor presence in the brain. electrocorticography (ecog) relies on similar principles but requires invasive implantation of electrodes on the brain's surface to measure local field potentials or action potentials more sensitively. magnetoencephalography (meg) is another method of measuring activity in the brain by measuring the magnetic fields that arise from electrical currents in the brain. the benefit to using meg instead of eeg is that these fields are highly localized and give rise to better understanding of how specific loci react to stimulation or if these regions over-activate (as in epileptic seizures). there are potential uses for eeg and meg such as charting rehabilitation and improvement after trauma as well as testing neural conductivity in specific regions of epileptics or patients with personality disorders. eeg has been fundamental in understanding the resting brain during sleep. real-time eeg has been considered for use in lie detection. similarly, real-time fmri is being researched as a method for pain therapy by altering how people perceive pain if they are made aware of how their brain is functioning while in pain. by providing direct and understandable feedback, researchers can help patients with chronic pain decrease their symptoms. implants main articles: brain–computer interface, surface chemistry of neural implants, and neuroprosthetics neurotechnological implants can be used to record and utilize brain activity to control other devices which provide feedback to the user or replace missing biological functions. the most common neurodevices available for clinical use are deep brain stimulators implanted in the subthalamic nucleus for patients with parkinson's disease. pharmaceuticals main article: neuropsychopharmacology pharmaceuticals play a vital role in maintaining stable brain chemistry, and are the most commonly used neurotechnology by the general public and medicine. drugs like sertraline, methylphenidate, and zolpidem act as chemical modulators in the brain, and they allow for normal activity in many people whose brains cannot act normally under physiological conditions. while pharmaceuticals are usually not mentioned and have their own field, the role of pharmaceuticals is perhaps the most far-reaching and commonplace in modern society. movement of magnetic particles to targeted brain regions for drug delivery is an emerging field of study and causes no detectable circuit damage. ethical considerations