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Innovation Incentive Initiative - Neuroscience |
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Neuroscience is an important area of modern biomedical science, and includes the study of nervous systems from the level of molecules and cells, up to circuits, regions, and finally, behavior. Recent studies by the National Academy of Medicine (2003) and the European Federation of Neurological Societies (2006), discuss the enormous economic impact of neurobiological disorders, which inflict 1.5 billion people worldwide. Health care costs associated with neurobiological diseases constitute 10% of all health costs, and inflict even greater cost in terms of personal suffering, family care costs and lost time attributable to neurological disorders.
In addition to its relevance for understanding and treating diseases and injuries of the nervous system, neuroscience research has applications for bio-medical engineering, computer programming, “smart” technologies, bio-mechanics, robotics, autonomous vehicles, sensors and instrumentation. Basic neuroscience research has the potential to contribute to economic development in diverse ways.
The on-going importance of neuroscience research to economic growth and competitiveness is evident with a few examples of “biomimetic” technology (design and engineering inspired by living organisms). In the 1950’s and 1960’s, basic researchers working on the compound eye of the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, were awarded the Nobel Prize for discovery of the principle of inhibition (whereby visual neurons adjacent to those being stimulated are inhibited to enhance contrast). This discovery, in turn, led one of the sponsors of the neuroscience research, General Electric, to “reverse engineer” the Limulus eye, which led them to develop better ways to project contrasting pixels of different wavelengths in cathode ray tube images. This investment by GE in basic research in neuroscience ultimately led to better color television (!). A recent paper in the journal Science (Jeong et al., 2006, vol. 312:557-561), illustrates the potential for a similar technological advance – an artificial digital eye with enormous potential for medical, industrial and military applications, derived from research on the neurobiology of insect compound eyes and constructed with nanotechnology.
More info about Neuroscience at UC
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