A major goal of neuroscience is to study the functional organization of the nervous system in animals to generate the knowledge that will eventually aid in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease and dysfunction in the human brain. In vivo electrophysiology (in live animal subjects) has been a powerful tool in pursuing that goal. It has provided groundbreaking information on areas ranging from the organization of primary visual cortex to neural correlates of working memory, which has helped in the treatment of disorders ranging from schizophrenia to epilepsy to depression. It has also helped in evaluation of various interventions in translational research on new medications and neuroprosthetic devices. Many experimental questions, particularly in behavioral neuroscience, require awaken freely moving subjects, and logistical constraints such as issues of cost, life-span, and housing often necessitate using small animals such as rodents. The technical challenges to this approach center on finding ways to record high quality neural signals for extended periods, while allowing small animals to move unencumbered by restraints or recording cables and unburdened by the weight and size of the battery-powered wireless recording instrumentation. The current proposal describes research which aim is to develop and test a new technology to overcome these challenges. In particular, we propose to develop a new inductively-powered wireless electrophysiological data acquisition system, called the EnerCage, which not only acquires and transmits neural signals wirelessly but also receives power wirelessly. Therefore it permits multichannel recordings for many hours in large and completely enclosed experimental arenas, similar to rodents'natural habitat. Most wireless data acquisition solutions use batteries to power the electronics carried by the animal, which necessitates a compromise between the duration of the experiments and the weight that the animal can carry. As a result, most researchers forgo the numerous benefits of wireless data acquisition systems and use systems that tether behaving animals to electrophysiology instrumentation through cables. The use of these cables results in substantial limitations on weight, the range over which an animal can traverse, susceptibility to noise, motion artifacts, and the need for expensive commutators to eliminate tangling and twisting. The EnerCage system, on the other hand, will offer key advantages including 1) a substantial reduction in the weight and size of the headstage that should be supported by the animal, 2) an unlimited operating time of the inductively powered transmitter, 3) an extendable area over which the animal can traverse, and 4) accurate monitoring of the 3-D position and orientation of a magnetic tracer affixed to the animal's headstage, which does not require the animal to be in the line of sight.
We propose to develop a new inductively-powered wireless electrophysiological data acquisition system, which not only acquires and transmits neural signals wirelessly but also receives power wirelessly. Therefore it permits multichannel recordings for many hours by eliminating the need for carrying batteries on the animal body in large and completely enclosed experimental arenas, similar to rodents'natural habitat.
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