how close are we to growing brains in a dish

Question 1

what we have done

Answer 1

• grown neural cells that have brain like activity

Question 2

what does this activity mean

Answer 2

• its unlikely the activity in these so called cortical organoids means they’re “awake” and “having experiences (this is fine they arent trying to make conscious beings, they just wanna test drugs)

Question 3

what has it proved us wrong in

Answer 3

• we thought that human neural tissue needed feedback from other parts of developing nervous systems, as well as the uterus, to develop and send signals

Question 4

what is the brain made of

Answer 4

• neurons and glial cells

Question 5

what happens when neurons fire

Answer 5

• imbalance of sodium and potassium ions get pushed down the axon toward another neuron thanks to channels and pumps in the cell membrane, which makes electrical signals
• individual neurons fire randomly
• its a group that makes brain waves

Question 6

brain waves

Answer 6

• patterns look like waves are visualized using technology called, electroencephalography, or eeg, which detects these changes on your scalp through electrodes

Question 7

different types of waves

Answer 7

• beta = thinking hard
• alpha = relaxed
• theta = falling asleep
• delta = deep sleep

Question 8

problems with the whole brain in dish situation

Answer 8

• need for more ethics???

Question 8

why is it good?

Answer 8

• we can use it for research!
• show how drugs that could have neurological effects might affect the pattern of activity in a tiny model brain
• if we can create neural tissue that models conditions the organoids can be used as a stand in for people actual brains