Livewire is a virtual entertainment event that combines neuroscience, neuroethics, and interactive media for participatory technology design. After a series of lightning talks on the technical, clinical, and ethical implications of emerging brain technologies, attendees will break into small groups to experience and reflect on Brainstorm: a social neurotechnology platform for coupling minds across geographic, cultural, and social boundaries.

Speakers include Dong Song, co-director of the USC Center for Neural Engineering; Eran Klein, a neurologist at the Oregon Health and Science University and a neuroethicist at the University of Washington’s Center for Neurotechnology; and Judy Illes, a former president of the International Neuroethics Society and director of Neuroethics Canada at the University of British Columbia.

Bios:
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 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 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.

Presented by USC Visions and Voices: The Arts and Humanities Initiative. Produced by the Brains@Play Initiative, including USC student Garrett Flynn, the Neurogenesis Working Group at Ahmanson Lab, and USC faculty Dong Song (Biomedical Engineering), Marientina Gotsis (Interactive Media & Games), and Curtis Fletcher (USC Libraries and Ahmanson Lab). Co-sponsored by USC Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study, OpenBCI, Alterea, and Athenoe.