Neurotechnology Microcourse

Neurotechnology is the field of using technology to record, understand, decode, and influence activity in the nervous system. In this 60-minute microcourse, you will build a practical overview of how neurotechnology works, from recording neural signals and imaging the brain to decoding information, controlling devices, and modulating nervous-system activity. The course begins by introducing neurotechnology itself — the basic relationship between the nervous system, sensors, signals, computation, and devices — and distinguishing recording, decoding, and modulation as the three fundamental ways technology interacts with the nervous system. It then explores how electrical activity from the brain, muscles, and peripheral nervous system can be recorded, introducing EEG, EMG, peripheral nerve recording, electrodes, and acquisition systems, before turning to the major brain-imaging technologies — CT, MRI, fMRI, diffusion imaging, and PET — and the distinction between structural and functional imaging, and between spatial and temporal information. From there, the course explains how recorded neural signals are transformed into useful information, through digitisation, preprocessing, feature extraction, biomarkers or patterns, and interpretation or classification. This leads into brain-computer interfaces and neuroprosthetics, where neural activity is decoded into commands for computers, communication systems, robotic devices, and prosthetic limbs. The course then turns to technologies that influence nervous-system activity rather than simply recording it — including TMS, tDCS, tACS, DBS, and VNS — and introduces the distinction between recording and stimulation, and the concept of closed-loop neuromodulation. The course closes by looking at where neurotechnology is going: wearable systems, digital biomarkers, adaptive stimulation, AI-based neural decoding, sensory-feedback brain-computer interfaces, and the importance of responsible development. By the end of the course, participants will be able to define neurotechnology, identify its major recording, imaging, and modulation technologies, describe how neural signals become usable information, and recognize the emerging directions shaping the field.