Modern Approaches to Augmentation of Brain Function

Dr. Ioan Opris is an associate professor at University of Miami, Coral Gables in Biomedical Engineering Department, having a PhD in Physics and Biophysics, with a substantial contribution in Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience. He is already an editor of two previous Springer books. The main focus of his current research is on the augmentation of cognitive function and locomotion boy both classic and modern noninvasive Neural Spintronics approaches. Dr. Opris is an editor of several journals, books and special issues.Dr. Mikhail Lebedev a Chief Research Scientist and Professor, works in the fields of Neurorophysiology and Neuroprosthetics.  The major focus of his current research is on brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), such as BCIs for reaching and grasping, BCIs that reproduce bipedal locomotion patterns, and sensorized  BCIs that both extract motor command from the brain and deliver sensory  information back to the brain. Lebedev is an editor of several journals, books and special issues.Manuel F. Casanova, MD is the SmartState Endowed Chair in Childhood Neurotherapeutics and a professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville. He is a former Gottfried and Gisela Kolb Endowed Chair in Outpatient Psychiatry and a Professor of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology at the University of Louisville.  Casanova's research focuses on the biological basis of neurodevelopment disorders, and abnormalities of cortical circuitry, in particular on the cell minicolumn. Using computerized imaging analysis, he has established the anatomical validity of the cell minicolumn. Casanova has reported interhemispheric differences in the morphometry of minicolumns that could provide explanations for the speciation of hominids. He has also reported on the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation as a possible therapeutic intervention in autism and on the use of gamma oscillation abnormalities as an outcome measure.