BRAIN EAGER: A Massively Parallel Electrocorticographic Recording, Stimulating and Chemical Detection Device to Understand Neural-Network Functioning in Behaving Animals

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Abstract

Proposal #1451007

This award is being made jointly by the Neural Systems Cluster in the Division of Integrative and Organismal Systems and the Instrument Development for Biological Research program (IDBR) in the Division of Biological Infrastructure.

How an animal renders a correct decision to select an appropriate behavior to express over another is not well understood at the level of individual brain neurons. Such decision making, however, is not always easy to study or understand because a number of factors can bias behavioral choice in dynamic ways (for example, fluctuating neurohormones or environmental conditions). Even in simpler invertebrate animals, with a reduced number of brain neurons, the operational state of their neural networks is neither easy to follow nor predictable. Thus to solve some of the most pressing questions in the field of neuroscience, technological advances must be made so that the functioning of brains can be studied under more naturalistic conditions. To this end, a team of scientists in engineering, nanoscience, chemistry, computer science, and biology will work together to design, fabricate and test a novel brain recording and stimulation device that, in parallel, will detect fluctuations in neuroactive substances. The team will begin by making prototypes of the device and testing it on leech and insect brains that have fewer neurons, but have well defined correlations between nerve cell activity and behaviors. The team is committed to the interdisciplinary cross-training of graduate and undergraduate students, especially females and underrepresented minorities. The goal of team mentoring is such that students will be well versed in both the biological and engineering aspects of the device. School visits are also planned to engage K-12 students in neuroscience, chemistry and engineering-related demonstrations, encouraging them to participate in STEM fields.

The cross-disciplinary team will fabricate and test a novel multi-electrode integrated ElectroCorticoGraphy (ECoG) device and chemical sensing system having high temporal resolution. Patterned brain activity will be collected in parallel with neuromodulatory substances such as dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT) and octopamine (OA). The team's aim is to fabricate a device that will be 2 x 2 mm square, micron-level thin, flexible and biocompatible for extended use, with a minimum of output wires; our future goal will be to develop a completely remote sensing/monitoring capability. Such post-fabrication modification will be conducted at the University of Minnesota's Nano Center. Furthermore, the team aims to identify conserved neural algorithms or rules for context-dependent decision making that span the invertebrates (leech and honey bee) to non-human primates. Fabricated devices will be placed: 1) around dorsal and ventral aspects of the brain of the leech while it makes a decision to crawl or swim (DA and 5-HT-dependent switching); 2) over the Kenyon cells of the honey bee brain during a modified PER (proboscis-extension) learning-and-memory task (potential DA, 5-HT, and OA involvement); and 3) over the Prefrontal Cortex of monkeys during a spatial-cognitive task that will mimic one used for the honey bee (measuring DA changes).