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Talk14 min

A new way to study the brain's invisible secrets

Ed Boyden · TED

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About

Neuroengineer Ed Boyden wants to know how the tiny biomolecules in our brains generate emotions, thoughts and feelings -- and he wants to find the molecular changes that lead to disorders like epilepsy and Alzheimer's. Rather than magnify these invisible structures with a microscope, he wondered: What if we physically enlarge them and make them easier to see? Learn how the same polymers used to make baby diapers swell could be a key to better understanding our brains.

The talk

  1. A new way to study the brain's invisible secrets 14 min · TED's player

Credits and licence

Institution
TED
Department
TEDSummit
Speaker
Ed Boyden
Year
2016
Level
For everyone
Language
English
Subjects
Chemistry, Biology, Medicine and health, Engineering, Psychology and the brain
Source
TED
Licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, as TED states it. Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions. TED's terms
Attribution
TED Talks are licensed by TED under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International and are shown here in TED's own player, as TED's usage policy asks.
Who can watch
TED gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from what the source says about it. How courses are placed