Serge Picaud

Host: Pieter Roelfsema
Email: p.roelfsema@nin.knaw.nl

Guest speaker:

Serge Picaud
Institute De La Vision
Sorbonne Université, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, 75012 Paris, France.

Title: Novel brain-machine interfaces: From prostheses, to optogenetic and sonogenetic therapies for visual restoration.

Abstract:

Visual restoration is certainly the greatest challenge for brain-machine interfaces with the high pixel number and high refreshing rate. Prostheses showed some success but for limited period or limited resolution. Optogenetic therapy has introduced a novel form of brain machine interface requiring expression of photosensitive microbial opsins. However, light can be difficult to project in deep brain layers. Therefore, after developing retinal prostheses and optogenetic therapy up to successful clinical trials at the retinal level, we have investigated the ultrasound modality to stimulate neuronal tissues. We have thus demonstrated efficacy of a photoacoustic strategy based on its natural mechanosensitivity to stimulate the blind retina. In parallel, we developed sonogenetic therapy based on the ectopic expression of mechanosensitive ionic channels to sensitize retinal or cortical neurons to ultrasounds. These novel ultrasound technologies offer great hopes for the design of non- contact brain machine interfaces compatible with the high spatiotemporal resolutions required for visual restoration.