Developing safe and effective neurotechnology will depend on continued advances in biochips and brain imaging technologies.  This week's Science reports good progress on the imaging front: (article links require subscription).

• Single Neuron Imaging: Using a combination of genetic engineering techniques and optical imaging techniques, neuroscientists at several universities are now able to observe synapse development in live rats.  Still in it's infancy, this technique will be an important one to follow, as it will have significant implications for understanding how the brain learns.
  
• Brain Imaging Archives Are Catching On: Standardized databases of brain images (especially fMRI data) are igniting neuroinformatics, making possible the analysis of different brain phenomena across thousands of subjects instead of just a few.  Moreover, it is leading to standardized formats and descriptions that are searchable and fantastic process,  Free examples at: BRAID, FMRIDC, MITRE. (see these!)
  
• Visualizing Signals Moving Through Cells: The development of fluorescent sensors and improved microscopic imaging techniques it is now becoming possible to investigate how signals propagate through living cells.  Although a far cry from being able to do this for neurons, this approach does show promise.

Brain science still has a long way to go but these efforts show that we are making headway on many fronts.