Understanding how the brain generates certain behaviors requires an understanding of the function of individual neurons in dynamical neural circuits. Currently, there are few technologies available however that allow researchers to record both the activity within a brain region, and between brain regions in the brains of awake, behaving animals. Recent advances in microelectrode fabrication are now enabling recordings of recording hundreds to thousands of neurons simultaneously across brain regions that will lead to functional analyses of dynamical neural circuits. To date however, there are no commercially available low-cost solutions for these kinds of revolutionary high-density probes. In addition, currently available high-density probes do not offer customization in design and layout. Neural Dynamics Technologies will develop low-cost, highly customizable, high-density probes for acute and chronic experiments in rodent in close collaboration with MIT. These probes are innovative because they rely on a new fabrication process that allows for both customization in probe design and low-cost fabrication. Furthermore, our probes will be made compatible for integration with existing commercial amplifier systems that are standardly used for both acute and chronic experiments in rodents.
The first aim of this proposal is to streamline the design process of high-density probes such that the fabrication process will be ready to produce a wide variety of probe designs at low cost.
The second aim will involve streamlining the production methods to enable fabrication of customizable probes with broad compatibility with existing commercial amplifier systems, which will allow neuroscience labs to use the probes with their existing equipment and analysis methods.
Neurological disease is projected to be the second largest cause of chronic disease in coming decades, but to confront this development, we need a better understanding of the neural circuit activity that underlies both healthy as well as diseased brain function. To understand the function of dynamical neural circuits we need technologies with the capability to measure the spiking activity of many individual neurons in vivo, in intact brains. Neural Dynamics Technologies focuses on the development of new neural interfaces that can record the activity of hundreds to thousands to neurons simultaneously within and across brain regions that will be available at low cost and that will offer customizability and compatibility with existing hardware and analysis methods.
