Neurotech Pub Cyborgs That Smell
May 11, 2021
Dima Rinberg, NYU professor studying olfactory coding and bioelectronic noses. Andreas Schaefer, neuroscientist probing olfactory circuits with imaging and computation. Gabriel Lavella, CEO building neural-interface–enabled olfactory detectors. They explore how noses encode odors, dimensionality of odor space, imaging and recording methods, engineered receptors, and real-world applications of portable olfactory BCIs.
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Combine Optical Imaging And Electrode Arrays For Bulb Recordings
- Use Imaging And Electrophysiology Complementarily For Olfactory Recordings.
- Andreas recommends surface-accessible imaging for superficial structures and electrode bundles (microwire arrays) to capture population activity across the bulb's sheath architecture.
High Density Surface Grids Unlock Large Scale Bulb Signals
- Wrapping The Bulb With High‑Density Surface Grids Enables Large‑Scale Receptor Readout.
- Dima and Gabe describe developing micro‑ECoG style grids to cover most of the bulb surface and capture spatial-temporal receptor input that imaging alone can't reach.
Engineering New Receptors Is Often Unnecessary
- Most Volatiles Are Detectable By Existing Receptor Repertoires Without Engineering New Receptors.
- Andreas notes mice have ~1,000 receptors and can likely detect the vast majority of volatile molecules; the bottleneck is stable data acquisition, not engineering novel receptors.
