醫(yī)學(xué)

大腦成像技術(shù)開辟醫(yī)療新境界

????許多疾病要想治愈，或許要等到科學(xué)家完全了解了人類大腦之后才有可能。但目前這個(gè)“復(fù)雜的機(jī)器”仍存在諸多未解之謎。

????未來十年，科學(xué)家們將嘗試?yán)L制大腦圖像，放大單個(gè)神經(jīng)元（大腦共有數(shù)十億個(gè)神經(jīng)元），用于研究每個(gè)神經(jīng)元的基因信息、形狀和電子信號。利用微型機(jī)器人工具，如由麻省理工學(xué)院（MIT）愛德華?博伊登和佐治亞理工學(xué)院（Georgia Tech）克雷格?弗雷斯特共同研發(fā)的“自動補(bǔ)丁”，研究人員有望關(guān)閉單個(gè)細(xì)胞，并借助相鄰細(xì)胞來重新繪制圖形。人類需要在接受大量培訓(xùn)后才能手動檢查神經(jīng)細(xì)胞，相比之下，機(jī)器人的速度卻要快得多。

????診斷單個(gè)神經(jīng)元的障礙使定向基因療法成為可能。隨著這種療法成本下降，侵入性降低，越來越多的病人將有機(jī)會接受這種借助高科技工具的治療。如果大腦成像技術(shù)取得成功，第一批可治愈的神經(jīng)障礙疾病會是哪些呢？應(yīng)該就是杜列特氏綜合癥和嗜睡癥。

????——亞歷克斯?康拉德

????譯者：喬樹靜/阿龍

Medicine

A map of the brain leads to cures

????The key to curing many diseases may come only when scientists fully understand the human brain, a complex machine that hasn't been completely investigated.

????Scientists will spend the next decade trying to map the mind, zooming in on single neurons (the brain has billions) to study each one's genetic information, shape, and electrical signals. Using tiny robotic tools such as an "auto patcher" -- developed by MIT's Edward Boyden and Georgia Tech's Craig Forest -- researchers will be able to turn off individual cells and plot patterns with its neighbors. The robot can check neurons much faster than humans, who need extensive training to do the process manually.

????Diagnosing the breakdowns within a neuron will allow for targeted gene therapy. As the process gets cheaper and less invasive, more patients will have access to treatment from such advanced tools. Among the first neurological disorders physicians can tackle when the brain is mapped? Tourette syndrome and narcolepsy.

????--Alex Konrad