Thesis supervisor: Attila Sík
Location of studies (in Hungarian): B141 Abbreviation of location of studies: B141
Description of the research topic:
t has been long established that electrical stimulation of various brain regions can cause various sensations, motor movement, aggressive behaviour, even religious thoughts to name a few behavioral outputs. Electrical deep brain stimulation has been developed to provide relief of symptoms of brain diseases, for example Parkinson’s disease patients, epilepsy sufferers, etc. Recent advances in neuroscience paved the road to methods to specifically stimulate neurons in the brain that can elicit well defined behaviour. Optogenetics is a new technique which involves the use of light to control activity of neurons that have been genetically modified to express light-sensitive proteins. Because of the inherent advantages (i.e.: cell specific stimulation) over the electrical brain stimulation, the side effects are minimal making the technique ideal for human use. Although until now optogenetics has only been used in animal experiments (including primates), it is evident that it will find its way to human therapy in the near future. The effect of this sort of stimulation is so specific, that well-defined behavioural and thought patterns can be evoked. The light controlled thought control however raises important ethical issues, that this project is going to analyse. The outcome of the project is to raise awareness of potential ethical problems of a novel treatment technique before it is used in human therapy.
Number of students who can be accepted: 3
Deadline for application: 2023-02-28
2024. IV. 17. ODT ülés Az ODT következő ülésére 2024. június 14-én, pénteken 10.00 órakor kerül sor a Semmelweis Egyetem Szenátusi termében (Bp. Üllői út 26. I. emelet).
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