Our mission is to research new stimulation paradigms and create a new generation of non-invasive brain stimulation technologies.
We will probe the limits of non-invasive computer-to-brain interfaces by carrying out research using improved brain stimulation paradigms to explore fundamental neuroscience questions and applications, and by designing and testing more powerful, controllable and safe non-invasive brain stimulation technologies.
HIVE is a 4 year project [2008-2012] funded by the European Commission and coordinated by Starlab under the Future Emerging Technologies (FET Open) – Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) program nursery of novel and emerging scientific ideas.
The project will address the following crucial related gaps in current non-invasive brain stimulation science and technology:
- Poor understanding of the effects of stimulation at the neuron and neuronal ensemble level: the project will investigate the biophysics of stimulation at the theoretical, computational and experimental level––both in humans and animals.
- Unfocused, un-precise stimulation technologies: an important objective of this project is to develop new multisite electromagnetic non-invasive stimulation paradigms to implement more controllable and effective stimulation technologies and applications. The project will develop a Multisite transcranial Current Stimulation and monitoring prototype (MtCS) for finer control of current flows in the brain and subsequently explore related applications.
- Limited animal and human stimulation experimental work: the project will explore new stimulation paradigms to communicate and interact with neural ensembles and the human brain.