Neuroscientists from the University of California at San Diego were able to observe for the first time spontaneous electrical activity (or, in other words, brain waves) of a laboratory “mini-brain”. They hope that in perspective this will allow to diagnose the early stages of diseases of the nervous system.
Researchers used stem cells to grow hundreds of mini-brain drugs in ten months. The cells formed a cortical tissue of the brain area responsible for the cognition and analysis of sensory data.
The electrical activity observed as a result was clearly distinct from the synchronized waves observed in the mature brain, and was chaotic inherent in the developing brain. The researchers found that in structure it was very similar to the patterns observed in babies born 25-39 weeks after conception.