Talking to the Brain in Its Own Language: Developing New Kinds of Prosthetic Devices

3rd Annual McPherson Eye Research Institute Endowed Lecture at 4:30pm, preceded by reception at 3:00pm. Sheila Nirenberg, MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Fellow, studies neural coding--how the brain takes information from the outside world and converts it into a coded electrical signal. Her goals: to better understand what we see, think, or feel through the pattern of electrical impulses that are generated; to build neural prosthetic devices, particularly ones for treating blindness.