(Edwards 2010). Researchers are using advanced techniques and models to study the mechanical properties of neural tissues and their effects on the tissues' ability to withstand and generate force and movements as well as their vulnerability to traumatic loading (Laplaca & Prado 2010). This area of research focuses on translating the transformations of information among the neuromuscular and skeletal systems to develop functions and governing rules relating to operation and organization of these systems (Nishikawa et al. 2007). Neuromechanics can be simulated by connecting computational models of neural circuits to models of animal bodies situated in virtual physical worlds (Edwards 2010). Experimental analysis of biomechanics including the kinematics and dynamics of movements, the process and patterns of motor and sensory feedback during movement processes, and the circuit and synaptic organization of the brain responsible for motor control are all currently being researched to understand the complexity of animal movement. Dr. Michelle LaPlaca's lab at Georgia Institute of Technology is involved in the study of mechanical stretch of cell cultures, shear deformation of planar cell cultures, and shear deformation of 3D cell containing matrices. Understanding of these processes is followed by development of functioning models capable of characterizing these systems under closed loop conditions with specially defined parameters. The study of neuromechanics is aimed at improving treatments for physiological health problems which includes optimization of prostheses design, restoration of movement post injury, and design and control of mobile robots. By studying structures in 3D hydrogels, researchers can identify new models of nerve cell mechanoproperties. For example, LaPlaca et al. developed a new model showing that strain may play a role in cell culture (LaPlaca et al. 2005). Neuromodulation Neuromodulation aims to treat disease or injury by employing medical device technologies that would enhance or suppress activity of the nervous system with the delivery of pharmaceutical agents, electrical signals, or other forms of energy stimulus to re-establish balance in impaired regions of the brain. Researchers in this field face the challenge of linking advances in understanding neural signals to advancements in technologies delivering and analyzing these signals with increased sensitivity, biocompatibility, and viability in closed loops schemes in the brain such that new treatments and clinical applications can be created to treat those with neural damage of various kinds. Neuromodulator devices can correct nervous system dysfunction related to Parkinson's disease, dystonia, tremor, Tourette's, chronic pain, OCD, severe depression, and eventually epilepsy. Neuromodulation