Tabib-Azar The main objective of this research is to design and implement an array of sensing and stimulating electrodes with integrated low-power electronics and telemetry to study dynamics of the nervous system in intact and behaving animals. A minimally intrusive implantable electrode array capable of recording and stimulating at multiple sites in the nervous system will be used. An experimental preparation in which the dynamics of the nervous system (i.e., the activity in single nerve cells) can be readily related to its overall behavior will be used. The novelty of the proposed system is that it will make it possible to record and control neural activity simultaneously through a remote computer interface. In turn, this will allow novel studies of neurodynamics, since it will be possible to examine the response of the nervous system to specific stimuli. For this reason, the electrode array system will be developed for a biological organism whose neural control and biomechanics have been very well characterized, the marine mollusk Aplysia californica. Results of this research will ultimately have broader applications in human neural prostheses.
The design and fabrication of an 8x8 stimulation and sensing electrode array with different electrode geometries and coating materials to optimize recording and stimulation of many Aplysia neurons simultaneously is proposed. In parallel, design and implementation of a low-power data acquisition and telemetry electronics will take place. These devices will be tested separately and together, forming the sense/stimulate telemetry system in vitro and in vivo in isolated ganglia, semi-intact preparations and in intact and behaving animals.
