Next Kenneth's Speech On What Is Neuroengineering?

I found this talk incredibly interesting, and it captured my attention the whole time he was presenting. Kenneth grabbed the audience from the very beginning with his video of a dead squid that somehow begins dancing when soy sauce is poured on it. The topic of neuroengineering is one that I had always heard great things about, but I never really knew the details, or what specifically neuroengineers did. Due to this not only did I enjoy Kenneth’s presentation and enthusiasm, but I also found the information helpful and interesting. Kenneth began his talk with a short description of the general idea behind neuroengineering. He described how they try to mimic the firing of neurons with electricity or other means in order to get some kind of

He then began listing off all of the uses of this technology such as: bionic eyes, exoskeletons, cochlear implants, and even mind control. What really stuck out to me was his point on how neuroengineering can better or even save thousands of lives across the country. The first technique he talked about were devices implanted into the brain that periodically shock certain areas in order to counteract tremors or ticks that can be caused by diseases such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s. These devices are called cortical electrodes or multi-electrode arrays are extremely effective on both of these diseases, and we were able to see the before and after videos of a person with each of these diseases and it was truly astonishing. This portion of Kenneth’s presentation was the most interesting to me. Although it is very controversial, these methods are also very effective, and the fact that we have begun to be able to go into our brains and rewire them to combat such life changing diseases is very

Since I have always been interested in a future career in prosthetics, the idea of these neural prosthetics was very exciting. He discussed how there have been many prosthetics that have been created where the user can simply think and the robotic arm will respond and move accordingly. These devices would be exponentially helpful to all of the countless people missing arms or legs, and it is extremely exciting that we have come far enough to build these devices. Another thig that Kenneth touched on was neuro regeneration. This is the process of using stem cells and other tissue cells to grow human organs. Although this process is extremely controversial and there are many people that are completely against it, with the millions of people who are on the waiting list for organs this process could make a very dramatic