4 Page 2 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, March 4, 1986 SCIENCE 'U' scientists research By ADAM CORT . A new microelectronic brain probe being researched at the University is on the verge of opening a new area of study in the nervous sytem and may some day help restore hearing and sight to those whose ability is im- paired by neural damage, resear- chers say. I The probe, which consists of microcircuitry on a t-shaped silicon chip about the size of a pin head, holds as many as 10 metal recording sites and can monitor the signals of several nerve cells in the brain at the same time, scientists said. BEFORE THIS invention, scientists were restricted to monitor the signals of single nerve cells by using metal electrodes, usually in the form of sharpened pins, said Ken Wise, an electrical engineering and computer science prof. and the leader of the probe's research team. The breakthrough is essential to understanding how the nervous sytem functions, said David Anderson, also an electrical engineering prof. and director of the bioelectrical sciences laboratory. By analyzing the signal of groups of nerve cells scientists will be able to determine how cells interact and create thoughts and sensations, An- derson said. PREVIOUS TO the development of the chip scientists were unable to test theories formulated in the '60s by neural scientists, Anderson said. He added that with this technology scien- tists will be able to test their theories on a routine basis. In addition to recording nervous sytem activity, the probe can be modified to stimulate nerve cells by sending tiny electrical charges through recording sites located on the stem of the probe, said Ken Drake, a graduate student on the research team. The adaptation requires minor changes in the probe construction, mostly in the recording sites, he said. The chip's ability to stimulate groups of nerve cells means it could be used some day in prosthetic devices, which supplying artificial sight and hearing, Anderson said. IN A PROSTHETIC device the probe would serve as a permanent brain implant that would relay infor- mation from the seeing and hearing device to the brain. This is the ultimate long-range goal of the project, Anderson said. Think You're Pregnant? Free Pregnancy Test Completely Confidential Pregnancy Counseling Center 529 N. Hewitt, Ypsilanti Call: 434-3088 (any time) probe Researchers looks optimistically to the probe's success, particularly in recording capabilities. Incomplete prototypes of the chip, which lack the full array of electronic equipment, have performed well in recent tests. Anderson predicts that upcoming tests with complete probes will yield favorable results. The probe "will certainly be suc- cessful for neuropsychopsychological recording," Anderson said. DRAKE SAID researchers are less certain about the probe's ability to stimulate nerve cells because it has not been tested in this capacity. But he predicts that scientists will be suc- cessful in this area in the future. A "couple hundred" researchers are needed to work with the chips so that modifications and other uses can be found for the chip, Drake said. Two weeks ago, Drake and other members of the research team for- med a companyncalled Integrated Microsystems, Inc. and will begin manufacturing the chips as soon as a grant comes through which has already been approved. Drake said he formed the company to make the chips available to researchers in the other disciplines around the country. I HOPE WE make Ann Arbor and the U of M the center for this kind of technology," Drake said. Drake said other universities are performing similar research, but they are not meeting the success that the University has. The chip has been built using state- of-the-art silicon technology and, in addition to the 10 recording sites, carries electronics which amplify the faint nerve impulses recorded at each site and transmit the signals over a single wire to monitoring devices. The ability to transmit over a single wire is important because it substan- tially reduces problems like short cir- cuiting and infection that accompany the use of more than one wire, said Anderson. This reliability is essential for use in prosthetics because the probe would be permanently implan- ted, he said. "Silicon is uniquely suited for use as a computerized brain probe because it already is used to make integrated circuits, has the necessary mechanical strength and is benign in the body," said Wise. The chip can be implated without injury, virtually floating in brain tissue, he added. "It's a fortunate blend of technology and materials that allows us to do this," he said. IN BRIEF COMPILED FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS AND UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL REPORTS NASA astronauts not told of shuttle deficiencies SPACE CENTER, Houston-NASA's astronauts were not informed that engineers had been concerned for more than two years about the safety of the space shuttles' solid-fuel rocket boosters, four veteran shuttle com- manders said yesterday. Astronaut Henry Hartsfield, one of four astronauts who broke a month- long silence to talk to reporters, said he learned about a potential hazard involving gaskets that seal joints on the boosters only after the shuttle Challenger exploded Jan. 28. Hartsfield, Vance Brand, Gordon Fullerton and Joe Engle said they were never made aware of all the many parts of the shuttle that.are called "criticality 1," parts whose failure would mean a catastrophic loss. Fullerton said the astronauts didn't have time to examine each system aboard the complex shuttles and "there's an implied trust (in the engineers) in flying on the shuttle." None of the four would agree that there was a flaw in NASA's launch decision process, as has been charged by the presidential commission in- vestigating Challenger's explosion. Jobless rate falls in 31 states WASHINGTON-Average annual unemployment rates dropped in 31 states-including Michigan-in 1985, leaving only three states with the percentage of jobless workers in double digits for the year, the gover- nment reported yesterday. Unemployment in Michigan dropped from 11.2 to 9.9 percent. Joining Michigan in reducing joblessless to below 10 percent in 1985 were Alaska, down from 10.0 percent to 9.7 percent, and Alabama down from 11.1 percent to 8.9 percent. New England continued to enjoy the lowest unemployment rate of any region of the country, slipping from 4.9 percent in 1984 to 4.4 percent last year, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Of the 18 states showing increases in the average annual unem- ployment rate from 1984 to 1985, some of the biggest jumps were recorded by those associated with farming and energy production. West Virginia continued to have the highest unemployment rate in the nation, 13 percent last year, down from 15 percent in 1984. The biggest decrease in joblessness was in Alabama. 50,000 supporters mourn assassinated ro-PLO leader NABLUS, Occupied West Ba -A numan wave of 50,000 mourning Palestinians carried the body of assassinated Mayor Zafer al-Masri through his city yesterday in one of the largest demonstrations of support for the PLO ever held in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Hours before the funeral, an Israeli soldier shot and killed a 57-year-old Palestinian in the nearby Balata refugee camp and wounded the man's 17-year-old son during a demonstration to protest al-Masri's slaying, Israeli military and Palestinian sources said. The sources, who spoke on condition they not be identified, said the man tried to attack an Israeli soldier attempting to break up the demon- stration. The thousands of men and youths, some of them weeping, chanted slogans as they bore the body to a martyr's tomb in the courtyard of the blue-domd mosque. Al-Masri, 44, a businessman named by Israel as mayor last December, was shot Sunday outside his office by an assailant who escaped into the crowded market. Two pro-Syrian Palestinian groups have claimed responsibility for the assassination. S. African police gun down 7 JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Police stopped a van they said was carrying seven black guerrillas and killed all seven in the resulting shootout yesterday in Guguletu township near Cape Town Official reports said the men were sent by the outlawed African National Congress to attack police officers. Four bodies lay in the street and three more in the surrounding bush, where they had been shot by pursuing police. Spent cartridges littered the streets, and windows of surrounding buildings were shattered by gunfire. The official reports said police lay in wait for more than four hours af- ter being informed that the ANC was planning an attack. They stopped the van near the township.police station soon after 7 a.m., the blacks started shooting and threw a grenade, and the police returned fire, said a statement by Gen. Johan Coetzee, the police commissioner. Seven "ANC terrorists" were killed and one officer was slightly woun- ded, Coetzee's statement said. Protestants riot in Belfast BELFAST, North Ireland-Protestant militants hurled gasoline bombs and stones in a rampage yesterday through central Belfast, and violent protests hit Londonderry and other towns during a general strike to demonstrate opposition to the Anglo-Irish accord. At least 10 people were injured, eight vehicles were set on fire and a clothing factory went up in flames in the most violent and widespread protest against the Nov. 15 accord that gives the Catholic Irish Republic a role in running the province. In Londonderry, Protestant and Roman Catholic youths battled and police fired plastic bullets when one of its vans was attacked. The Protestants, who outnumber Catholics 3-2 in Northern Ireland, cut electric power to hundreds of homes and managed to virtually paralyze the province during the 24-hour strike. The Royal Ulster Constabulary said 34 people were arrested in violent incidents. Among the injured were four policemen and two women who were stoned during an evacuation of the Saracen clothing factory in Lurgan, 15 miles southwest of Belfast. pI PM PI r 1 ", * A v a il U. 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The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and subscribes to United Press International, Pacific News Service, Los Angeles Times Syndicate, and College Press Service. Introducing MacintoshTM Plus, the faster, more powerful personal computer from Apple. Macintosh Plus offers several new features to provide the kind of performance advanced users demand. Features include a new keyboard with built-in numeric keypad, increased system speed, and standard one megabyte of memory. With the new Apple@ Hard Disk 20 you can store up to 20 megabytes of information and retrieve it up to three times faster. 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