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Brainy robot breaks new ground in Parkinson's research
April 16, 2003Researchers at the University of Sheffield have successfully built a 'brain-bot' that could lead to a breakthrough in our understanding of illnesses such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, schizophrenia and Tourette's syndrome. Brain-bots are robots that are part-controlled by computer models of circuits in the human brain and they can help scientists get a better and more detailed understanding of brain function.
The Adaptive Behaviour Research group at the University have successfully built a robot controlled by a computer model of the basal ganglia, the part of the brain concerned with action selection. The basal ganglia helps to decide on the best course of action at any point in time and thereby plays a key role in controlling all voluntary movement. The robot model allows scientists to observe how changes in the basal ganglia can affect observable behaviour.
The researchers have been experimenting with the robot to see how changing levels of the important brain chemical dopamine can alter the function of the basal ganglia and consequently affect behaviour. Dr. Tony Prescott, of the University's Psychology Department explains, "We already knew that low levels of dopamine are seen in diseases such as Parkinson's and that abnormalities in dopamine function are often present in patient's with schizophrenia or Tourette's syndrome. However, we need to find out more about the effects of dopamine on the basal ganglia in order to better understand its role in these disorders. This is where the robot comes in.
"In medical laboratories rats are often used to investigate theories about basal ganglia function as this part of the rat brain is quite similar to the human brain. Our robot is therefore programmed to act like a rat, with similar impulses. For example, if you put it into a new environment it will hide in corners until it has decided that it is safe to look for food. Later, it will start searching for 'food pellets' (small cylinders), and when it finds one, it will pick it up and scurry back to a safe corner.
"When we decreased the amount of dopamine in the system the robot had problems initiating movement and sometimes stopped completely. Movement was generally sluggish and the symptoms observed were similar to those seen in Parkinson's sufferers. Conversely, increasing the dopamine levels sometimes caused the robot to try to do two behaviours at once, or the robot might begin initiating a new behaviour before completing its current action. For example, the robot would often fail to pick-up a 'food pellet' as it would move off to find a second one before its gripper had fully grasped the first. A similar inability to suppress inappropriate actions or thoughts is characteristic of some patients with Tourette's syndrome or schizophrenia.
"These experiments help us to understand some of the specific changes in the basal ganglia underlying these important brain disorders, and should lead to a better understanding of them. In the future robots with simulated brain circuits might also help us to identify and simulate new forms of treatment for damaged brains. Brain-bots are fairly new technology but they have great potential for the future of bio-research."
Sheffield, University of
"In medical laboratories rats are often used to investigate theories about basal ganglia function as this part of the rat brain is quite similar to the human brain. Our robot is therefore programmed to act like a rat, with similar impulses. For example, if you put it into a new environment it will hide in corners until it has decided that it is safe to look for food. Later, it will start searching for 'food pellets' (small cylinders), and when it finds one, it will pick it up and scurry back to a safe corner.
"When we decreased the amount of dopamine in the system the robot had problems initiating movement and sometimes stopped completely. Movement was generally sluggish and the symptoms observed were similar to those seen in Parkinson's sufferers. Conversely, increasing the dopamine levels sometimes caused the robot to try to do two behaviours at once, or the robot might begin initiating a new behaviour before completing its current action. For example, the robot would often fail to pick-up a 'food pellet' as it would move off to find a second one before its gripper had fully grasped the first. A similar inability to suppress inappropriate actions or thoughts is characteristic of some patients with Tourette's syndrome or schizophrenia.
"These experiments help us to understand some of the specific changes in the basal ganglia underlying these important brain disorders, and should lead to a better understanding of them. In the future robots with simulated brain circuits might also help us to identify and simulate new forms of treatment for damaged brains. Brain-bots are fairly new technology but they have great potential for the future of bio-research."
Sheffield, University of
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