Livewire: A Stimulating Night of Neurotechnology

March 5th, 2021

Livewire was a virtual event highlighting the ethical and social implications of emerging neurotechnology. The event featured a panel of experts in neuroscience, neuroethics, and neurotechnology, and was attended by ~200 students, faculty, and community members.

In addition to the panel discussion, the event encouraged audience participation through live interaction with expert facilitators on Discord.

A recording of the event is available here.

The Speakers

Dong Song

Dong Song is a research associate professor of biomedical engineering and co-director of the Center for Neural Engineering at USC. His research interests include nonlinear dynamical modeling of the nervous system, hippocampal memory prosthesis, neural interface technologies, and development of novel modeling strategies incorporating both statistical and mechanistic methods. He invented the multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) nonlinear dynamical model of spike transformation that serves as the computational basis of hippocampal memory prostheses.

Eran Klein

Eran Klein is a neurologist specializing in dementia at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) and the Portland VA Medical Center. He is part of the neuroethics thrust at the NSF Center for Neurotechnology (CNT) at the University of Washington. He works at the intersection of neurology, neuroscience, and philosophy.

Judy Illes

Judy Illes is a past president of the International Neuroethics Society and director of Neuroethics Canada at the University of British Columbia. A pioneer and eminent scholar in the field of neuroethics, she has made groundbreaking contributions to ethical, social, and policy challenges at the intersection of biomedical ethics and neuroscience, emerging neurotechnologies for neurologic and psychiatric conditions affecting people across the life span, decision-making, cross-cultural values, and the commercialization of healthcare.

Joseph Artuso

Joseph Artuso is the president and chief commercial officer (CCO) of OpenBCI.

Expert Facilitators

1. Dong Song: USC
2. Eran Klein: OHSU
3. Judy Illes: UBC
4. Joseph Artuso: OpenBCI
5. James Giordano: Georgetown University
6. Laura Cabrera: Michigan State University
7. Michael Young: Harvard Medical School
8. Tim Brown: University of Washington
9. Andreas Schönau: University of Washington
10. Katelyn Ringrose: University of Washington
11. Jeremy Greenberg: Future of Privacy Forum
12. Katerina Zacharia: Loyola Marymount University

Acknowledgements

Livewire was presented by USC Visions and Voices: The Arts and Humanities Initiative. It was produced by the Brains@Play Initiative and the Neurogenesis Working Group at the USC Ahmanson Lab.

Neurogenesis Working Group

1. Morgan Kuligowski - Student Working Group (2019 - 2021)
2. Yizhen (Alice) Wu - Student Working Group (2019 - 2021)
3. Jay Goldstuck - Student Working Group (2020 - 2021)
4. Tejas Ramdas - Student Working Group (2020 - 2021)
5. Adam Christian Clark - Student Working Group (2019 - 2020)
6. Stefan Niculae - Student Working Group (2019)

Faculty Advisors

1. Marientina Gotsis - USC Games For Health Initiative
2. Dong Song - USC Neural Modeling and Interface Laboratory
3. Curtis Fletcher - USC Libraries and Ahmanson Lab
4. Katerina Zacharia - Loyola Marymount University and Athenoe

Co-Sponsors

1. USC Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study
2. OpenBCI
3. Alterea
4. Athenoe