Queensland Brain Institute Achieves Remarkable Success
The Queensland Brain Institute (QBI), established by the University of Queensland in 2003, is a leading institute led by Professor Pankaj Sah that is focused on two of the greatest challenges of modern science: understanding brain function and the prevention and treatments of disorders of brain function.
Since its formation, the Institute has achieved remarkable success. In a range of exciting collaborations with clinicians and commercial partners, QBI has progressed ground-breaking treatments of brain diseases such as dementia, schizophrenia, motor neurone disease (MND), and anxiety and depression.
Fascinating insights to the brain can be found in QBI’s extraordinary publication, The Brain. As Professor Pankaj Sah says in Issue 4 released this year, “Over millions of years our brains have increased in size and complexity, evolving from basic nerve structures to the sophisticated organs we have today. Our brain is not just a machine though; it is the reason we can think, move, love, remember, socialise”.
QUT robotics Professor Michael Milford’s work is also featured in QBI’s Issue 4. Professor Milford draws inspiration from biology and has collaborated with neuroscientists at QBI to study how rats navigate, and if this can be applied in robots. He highlights the importance of knowing much more than we do today.
He has said that, “…neuroscientists can only observe maybe a couple of hundred of these navigation cells at any one time, when there’s hundreds of thousands. It’s like peeking into the brain through a tiny hole and only seeing a little bit.”
Drawing inspiration from neuroscience is not simply about mimicry, he says.
“The perfect [neuro-robot] product, in terms of fulfilling the consumer’s need, would not necessarily be a perfect replication of the brain, because we don’t do everything perfectly,” Professor Milford explains.
“There are lots of examples where technology is actually better than parts of biology. Look, for example, at cameras: 10 years ago, the human eye was far superior to any camera you could get. Now, some cameras are comparable to the human eye.”
For many more insights to the brain, artificial intelligence and the ethical issues surrounding continued advances in the human-AI interface, download QBI’s The Brain Magazine Issue 4.
