As an undergrad, it was the first time I got a chance to attend a conference. It was the Bernstein Computational Neuroscience Conference and the International Conference on Computational Neuroscience which was held from 11–12 October 2017 at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin( Humboldt University of Berlin). It was an enriching experience for a novice like me to get acquainted with ideas of the top researchers in the field. Almost like a dream come true for me.

I realized just how all of us carry a 3-pound universe inside us. I just really don’t know where to start and where to stop because the field is so inter-disciplinary it holds applications almost everywhere; from defense applications(using Robotics) to developing prosthetics for the paralytic to curing Neurodegenerative diseases etc. As a student of the ‘new cosmos’, one can step into any arena.

The topic which attracted me the most was Neuroprosthetics and Neurorobotics. New technology is increasingly focussing on creating better interfaces with the computer, according to Elon Musk the input to a computer is particularly slow; you think, you type, read and assess the correct spelling while the output from a computer is really quick; it displays info and you process it immediately and that’s where work needs to be put in. More effort has also been concentrated towards creating prosthetic devices for people whose somatosensory cortex’s connections to the body are dysfunctional. For an example, a girl lost her hands due to an accident but now she can paint and write due to the fact that her brain was still sending those signals to her hands but there were no hands to receive it. The newly created device performed the function of a receptor of messages from the brain and performed movements after learning from a deep learning model. It’s absolutely spectacular that our knowledge could help us do that!

It’s a great time to be alive and explore the Science of today, with the advancements in Brain-Computer Interfaces and stupendous works of companies like Google Deepmind the real-life eon of the movie ‘Matrix’ is not far. This is going to be a revolution, just as there was one to put a man on the moon with concentrated efforts from people around the world. All spooky stuff that one gets to see in sci-fi movies might well be something we experience in a few decades. I’d soon like to enter ‘Tomorrowland’.