Downstream

 Thomas Deerinck and Mark Ellisman

Here’s an image captured by an electron microscope of axons growing in a dish, which in itself is pretty amazing. An axon carries nerve impulses from the body of a neuron (nerve cell) downstream toward thousands of other neurons, on average.  There are about 100 billion of these conduits pulsing away in our skulls right now.

Here’s an excellent recent article, “Human Thought Can Voluntarily Control Neurons in Brain”:

Neuroscience research involving epileptic patients with brain electrodes surgically implanted in their medial temporal lobes shows that patients learned to consciously control individual neurons deep in the brain with thoughts.

Subjects learned to control mouse cursors, play video games and alter focus of digital images with their thoughts. The patients were each using brain computer interfaces, deep brain electrodes and software designed for the research.

Continue article here.