Building a Brain

The human brain still harbours many mysteries, and unravelling the workings of this intricate organ is a major scientific challenge. One means of tackling the problem is to build artificial systems, based on neural tissues, to help model the brain’s responses to different stresses. Shown is a recent example, based on a scaffold of collagen and silk (in blue), onto which rat neurons (in orange) are attached, grow, and connect to each other. Dropping weights onto this structure, to mimic a blow to the skull, demonstrated that this bioengineered brain responds in a similar way to that of injured human patients; this suggests that it could be a useful system for studying the effects of traumatic brain injury. Increasing the complexity of the model, by adding different types of brain cells, will help develop ever-better tools in which to investigate the behaviour of our most intriguing organ.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

Emmanuelle Briolat

Writer

A researcher specialising in visual signals in Lepidoptera, camouflage and the effects of light pollution, Emmanuelle’s writing covers a range of topics, from biomedical research to children’s books about moth defences.

Website

• Image from work by Min D. Tang-Schomer and colleagues
• Tufts University School of Medicine, USA
• Originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in PNAS, September 2014