Researches grow brain in dish.Researchers also write misleading title.

From science.slashdot.com and article about neural networks and hippocampal cultures.
http://science.slashdot.org/story/11/05/26/1421256/Researchers-Grow-a-Brain-In-a-Dish

Yay!Finally something that I've actually done in a lab!


Here is the source article http://www.news.pitt.edu/news/Zeringue-memory-cell-networks

So here's what they're doing:
-Put adhesive type proteins on culture plate
-Culture pure hippocampal cultures onto said plate (I can do that.Bam.)
-Allow neural networks to form
-Electrically stimulate networks. (I can measure that.Double Bam)
RESULT: the neural netwoks were able to sustain the burst of stimulation and resulting network activity for 12 seconds compared to 0.25 seconds in an In vivo model. This demonstrates the neural networks ability to hold information "online" long after stimulation......i.e. form memory....basically.

Misleading bit number 1-It's not a brain,its a MODEL of a brain.But that doesn't matter-its the most interesting Neuroscience article I've read in a while.
Plus the images are perfect.
I'd also like to know if they used FLIPR or impedance or a type of HCS (high contents screening) or MEAs (Multi Electrode Arrays)  to do the voltage measurents.....I will investigate further!

What does Cell culture mean? - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_culture