Every day that neural probe gets a little smaller, and a little deeper. In fact, we're not even using probes anymore, we're just shooting you through the head with lasers. Blood-brain barrier? 20th century. Actually, we're not even using brains anymore, because brains are insecure, too much attack surface.
Holographic optogenetics could enable faster brain mapping for new discoveries
Oct 2025, phys.org
Optogenetics is cool but have you tried holographic optogenetics?
via Columbia University, UC Berkeley, and the Vision Institute Wavefront Engineering Microscopy team of Sorbonne University: Marcus A. Triplett et al, Rapid learning of neural circuitry from holographic ensemble stimulation enabled by model-based compressed sensing, Nature Neuroscience (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-025-02053-7.
Also: I-Wen Chen et al, High-throughput synaptic connectivity mapping using in vivo two-photon holographic optogenetics and compressive sensing, Nature Neuroscience (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-025-02024-y.
Image credit: AI Art - Health Universe Brain Hospital by Dali - 2025
Neural implant smaller than a grain of salt can wirelessly track brain
Nov 2025, phys.org
MOTE - microscale optoelectronic tetherless electrode, a small scale, neural monitor and bio-integrated sensor, powered by red and infrared laser beams that pass harmlessly through brain tissue, and using a semiconductor diode made of aluminum gallium arsenide
via Cornell Nanyang Technological University: Sunwoo Lee et al, A subnanolitre tetherless optoelectronic microsystem for chronic neural recording in awake mice, Nature Electronics (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41928-025-01484-1
'Brain-free' robots that move in sync are powered entirely by air
Nov 2025, phys.org
Brain-free is another way to say it. They also call them "fluidic robots", and also embodied intelligence.
A major goal in soft robotics is to encode behavior and decision-making directly into the robot's physical structure.They devised a single module that can do all three of these things: actuate in response to air pressure like a muscle, sense pressure change, and switch air flow between on and off like a logic gate."This spontaneous coordination requires no predetermined instructions but arises purely from the way the units are coupled to each other and upon their interaction with the environment.""Encoding decision-making and behavior directly into the robot's physical structure could lead to adaptive, responsive machines that don't need software to 'think.' It is a shift from 'robots with brains' to 'robots that are their own brains.' That makes them faster, more efficient, and potentially better at interacting with unpredictable environments."
via University of Oxford RADLab: Multifunctional Fluidic Units for Emergent, Responsive Robotic Behaviors, Advanced Materials (2025). DOI: 10.1002/adma.202510298.
Bioluminescent tool captures neural activity without external lasers
Dec 2025, phys.org
The team described a bioluminescence tool it recently developed, called the Ca2+ BioLuminescence Activity Monitor - or "CaBLAM," for short."You can make that process calcium-sensitive so you can get proteins that will shift back a different amount or different color of light, depending on whether or not calcium is present, with a bright signal."
via Bioluminescence Hub at Brown University Carney Institute for Brain Science: Gerard G. Lambert et al, CaBLAM: a high-contrast bioluminescent Ca2+ indicator derived from an engineered Oplophorus gracilirostris luciferase, Nature Methods (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41592-025-02972-0
Brain computer interface enables rapid communication for two people with paralysis
Mar 2026, phys.org
This was always the way it was going to happen - they aren't choosing one letter at a time with an eye-tracker, they're imagining typing with their fingers, and the corresponding motor cortex spits signals recorded by the brain implant:
"BrainGate" - Microelectrode sensors are placed in the motor cortex, a part of the brain that controls movement. Next, a QWERTY keyboard is displayed in front of the participant, with each letter mapped onto fingers and finger positions—up, down, or curled. As the participant intuitively attempts these finger movements, the electrodes sense the brain's electrical activity, then send a signal to a computer system that can translate the neural activity into letters. This output is then processed through a final predictive language model to ensure a cohesive, accurate communication result.
via Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute and Brown University: Justin J. Jude, Restoring rapid natural bimanual typing with a neuroprosthesis after paralysis, Nature Neuroscience (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-026-02218-y.
