ECE 421

Credit: 3 OR 4 hours.

This course will focus on hardware and software technologies that enable control and readout of neural activity in the brain. Engineering grounded innovation will accelerate our understanding of the brain, impact new therapies for restoring lost neural functions, and lead to neural interfaces to augment our interaction with the world and machines. Focuses on using physical, chemical and biological principles to understand technology design criteria governing ability to observe and alter brain structure and function. Topics include noninvasive and invasive brain mapping and stimulation, neural interfaces and neural prosthetics, data processing problems, decoding/encoding techniques based on machine learning, future brain interfaces based on nanotechnology, optogenetics.

Same as NE 420. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: ECE 210 or BIOE 205 and NE 330, or instructor approval.