Researchers from the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in South Korea have developed a method for targeting pathways in the brain using a combination of genetics, nanoparticles, and magnetic fields.
They call the technology Nano-MIND, an acronym for Magnetogenetic Interface for NeuroDynamics.
And while mind-control is a coarse but relatively accurate way of describing it, the system in its current form is intended to provide researchers with a means of remotely activating neural circuits for a range of research applications.
According to the Korean scientists, this is the world’s first technology to freely control specific brain regions using magnetic fields.
Magnetic stimulation is an emerging field of research in neurology, where washing the brain with pulses of electromagnetism broadly massages whole regions into subtly changing their behavior.
