Neurobiologist uses brain to restore mobility

Although Dr. Miguel Nicolelis still entertains the dream of one day playing for the Brazilian national soccer team, he is making far larger strides toward finding a way to restore motor function in paralyzed patients.

Co-director of the Center for Neuroengineering, professor of neurobiology and philanthropist, Nicolelis is realizing another dream and in the process, turning heads in the international scientific community.

"My dream is to understand how large brain sequences work to create motor functions and use that information to clinically treat paralysis," said Nicolelis.

Nicolelis and his research team were awarded an unprecedented $26 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in 2002 to design a brain-machine interface program that could test whether neuroprosthetic devices can be used to restore motor-function in paralysis victims.

Next week, he anticipates, the fledgling Public Library of Science Journal, meant to compete "head to head" with the well-established Science and Nature journals, will debut exciting preliminary clinical data on neuroprosthetic devices that can be controlled simply by thinking about it.

Last year, Nicolelis's research team found that monkeys can incorporate a robot arm into their thoughts and control the robot. This soon-to-be published article marks the beginning of clinical trials attempting to confirm what Nicolelis already found to be the case with monkey tests.

The implications of Nicolelis's research is far-reaching. There are currently over 200,000 people who are paralyzed and each year, 10,000 more will become paralyzed. The possibility of regaining mobility is revolutionary.

"This is about trying to create something that doesn't exist," said Nicolelis. "I'm a physician by training and to me, the possibility of restoring motor function by creating an exoskeleton robot--or even bypassing the lesion in the spinal chord--is incredible."

Chair of Neurobiology Dr. James McNamara is enthusiastic about the propitious results of Nicolelis's research.

"I think that Miguel's work is terrifically interesting," he said. "In particular, the idea that neuronal recordings from one's brain could drive a robot to perform a task one thinks about--that is really interesting and promising."

Although the potential societal benefits from this research are huge, his research has on multiple occasions fallen victim to the rumor mill.

Hannah Hoag, an intern at Nature wrote a sensational feature article in June, contriving DARPA's goals as going beyond trying to rehabilitate paralyzed veterans and intending to create devices "to enhance normal human function" and "allow images to be relayed direct to the brains of military personnel" similar to The Matrix. Defending his research, Nicolelis pointed to the fact that her "more sinister interpretation would not be possible" to realize in the near future, and that his contract with DARPA is not classified information.

Nicolelis has also had to defend the integrity of his research with animal rights and research watchdog groups. In 2001, Stop Animal Exploitation Now! named Nicolelis as "unnecessarily harming primates and violating federal reporting standards." In response, Nicolelis said the primates were treated with the highest of standards and that there is no proof of any intention to harm the animals.

"The primates receive better medical care than most people in the country," he said. "It was just a political act, trying to generate attention."

In spite of such rumors and controversies surrounding Nicolelis, he is more known for his boldness and relentless passion for science research.

"Beside playing for the Brazilian national soccer team, I can't imagine doing anything as exciting as discovering new break-throughs and reaching milestones," he said. "Science has to be ambitious! You have to dare."

Nicolelis's daring research straddles the cutting edge of both neurobiology and biomedical research, and as co-director of the Center for Neuroengineering together with Craig Henriquez, who is also assistant professor of biomedical engineering and computer science, the center is intended to become a world recognized research program in brain-machine interfaces.

"The brain is the next great frontier for biomedical technology and Duke should be at the forefront of this and bring together two world recognized programs in biomedical engineering and neurobiology," Henriquez said.

The center was founded to establish a formal structure through which enhanced interaction between engineering and neuroscience at Duke could be fostered. Hardly three years old, the Center is growing in leaps and bounds.

In conjunction with the departments of biomedical engineering and neurobiology, the center is now beginning to hire engineering tenure track and research faculty with expertise in other aspects of neuroengineering, said Henriquez. Among managing the $26 million DARPA research project, developing new courses and research projects for students, preparing for the new Nicolelis Primate Laboratory and hiring new faculty, the co-directors are constantly busy, he added.

"This has been a very busy time for the center.... There is enough work for four directors--let alone two," Henriquez said.

Amid the hectic atmosphere at the center, Nicolelis manages to find time to work on an ambitious and progressive project to build a neuroscience research center in Natal, Brazil, within three years. The institute will include a mental health clinic, a school for underprivileged children and a museum, highlighting the achievements of Brazilian scientists over the years. Five hundred poor Brazilian children each year will be given a scholarship called the Fellowship for Life, which will provide them with the opportunity to receive their primary education at the institute.

"We want to create a new generation of kids to build the country," he said.

Nicolelis, along with over 20 neuroscientists around the world, plan on this institute in Brazil becoming the beginning of an international network of institutes to collaborate on large neuroscience projects.

Since Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil's current president came to power, he has pledged his support of scientific research initiatives in the country. The Brazilian government already donated 300 square acres to build the institute on and $1.2 million in seed money to start the plans for the neuroscience center.

"There is a large community of Brazilians abroad at a very high level of science," he said. "With the current political climate in Brazil, this is the opportunity to build the country."

Nicolelis continues to the push the bar of excellence in medicine, academia and science a notch higher.

"I'm pursuing a dream," he said. "And I'm going to keep on trying to reach that limit, when I can accomplish this dream. It's all worth it--even if it means having a crazy life."