Center for Neurotechnology Studies to Host Seminar on Capitol Hill
The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies Center for Neurotechnology Studies (CNS) will be hosting a seminar on Capitol Hill to discuss neuroimaging technology, titled Seeing Isn’t Always Believing: The Realities of Imaging Technology and Neuroscience.
The President’s BRAIN Initiative has spearheaded an effort to map and understand the human brain, and novel neuroimaging technologies need to be developed in order to accomplish this goal. Neuroimaging encompasses the set of techniques that researchers use to create a structural and/or functional map of the nervous system. While structural imaging has provided researchers with a physical map of the nervous system, it has also enabled physicians to identify the locations of tumors and brain injuries. Meanwhile, functional imaging is used for neurological and cognitive research, as well as for detecting metabolic diseases and smaller-scale lesions. Current imaging technologies have enabled much of the advances we see in neurotechnology and our understanding of the brain, but real progress in mapping the brain will involve a significant push for further development.
Current neuroimaging technologies have shortcomings in their ability to pinpoint when and where exactly areas of the brain are active and communicating with each other. Ideally, imaging technologies will be able to boast high accuracy and precision in their identification of brain activity and the relationships between cells and neural networks. Such imaging technology would provide researchers with a picture of real-time neuron firing and activity, and would be a large step towards achieving the BRAIN Initiative’s goal of mapping the human brain, understanding form and function, addressing neural disease and disorders, and developing new technologies to improve the brain.
This seminar aims to discuss the future of imaging, how these technologies can be developed to provide a more in-depth map of the brain and its functions, and how knowledge gained from these technologies can impact and affect the lives of everyday citizens. The distinguished panel of neuroscientists and imaging specialists will provide their insight on how technologies like neuroimaging improve our brain health, spur new research and development, and help to accomplish our national science endeavors. Because this field holds such great promise, it warrants the development of policy options that will make brain mapping with new neuroimaging technology a reality. By bringing together researchers and academics involved in the brain sciences alongside policymakers and legislators, we hope to provoke a lively discussion from which novel policy ideas for the successful implementation of neuroimaging for brain mapping and other BRAIN Initiative efforts will emerge.
The Center for Neurotechnology Studies (CNS) is an academic research center within the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. It provides a neutral, in-depth analysis of matters at the intersection of neurotechnology and public policy. CNS provides a forum for reasoned consideration of these issues both by subject-area experts and by the public. The Center serves as authoritative counsel to government agencies pursuing neurotechnology, by providing expertise in the sciences, law, and policy through discussion on the implications of neurotechnology in academic, administrative, entrepreneurial, regulatory, legislative, and judicial enterprises. In turn, the Center is a highly sought partner by the research community for advice, partnership, and advocacy for the public and private funding of key neurotechnology research.
CNS' previous event on Capitol Hill, America's Next Frontier: Conquering the Mind, can be read here.
For more information please contact Dr. Jennifer Buss at 703-525-0770 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Cameras and media must be registered. For registration and general RSVPs, please send name, title and affiliation to Brian Barnett at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..