Neurotechnology
Cutting edge advances in nanotechnology, device manufacture, and engineering and electronic circuits have enabled the development of even more powerful, flexible, and high resolution recordings and stimulation approaches to the brain across the neuroscience field. We try to operate in that translational boundary of research and development to make these new technologies available to both the clinical and neuroscience fields. The goal is to ask if and how these new technologies could advance both a basic neuroscience and a clinical understanding of how the human brain operates.
These projects include the development of new recording systems collaboration with researchers in Dr. Sodini’s laboratory at MIT. This also includes new ways of measuring and modulating neural activity using nanofabricated magnetic materials. This is a collaboration with Dr. Nian Sun and colleagues at Northeastern University. Further, we have a collaboration with Dr. Shadi Dayeh at UCSD for the development of novel electrode devices to record ongoing neural activity.
Ultimately, all of these projects aim toward the creation of both invasive and non-invasive mechanisms for restoring damaged neuronal function.
Publications
Khalifa A, Zaeimbashi M, Zhou TX, Abrishami SM, Sun N, Park S, Šumarac T, Qu J, Zohar I, Yacoby A, Cash S, Sun NX (2021) The development of microfabricated solenoids with magnetic cores for micromagnetic neural stimulation. Nat Microsystems Nanoeng 7:91. DOI: 10.1038/s41378-021-00320-8
Ryu SB, Paulk AC, Yang JC, Ganji M, Dayeh SA, Cash SS, Fried SI, Lee SW.Spatially confined responses of mouse visual cortex to intracortical magnetic stimulation from micro-coils. J Neural Eng. 2020 Oct 23;17(5):056036. DOI: 10.1088/1741-2552/abbd22.
Ganji M, Paulk AC, Yang JC, Vahidi NW, Lee SH, Liu R, Hossain L, Arneodo EM, Thunemann M, Shigyo M, Tanaka A, Ryu SB, Lee SW, Tchoe Y, Marsala M, Devor A, Cleary DR, Martin JR, Oh H, Gilja V, Gentner TQ, Fried SI, Halgren E, Cash SS, Dayeh SA. “Selective Formation of Porous Pt Nanorods for Highly Electrochemically Efficient Neural Electrode Interfaces”, Nano Lett. 2019 Sep 11;19(9):6244-6254. DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b02296
Using Novel Technologies in Discovery
Significant advances in technology allowed us to discover entirely new features of the neural signal that could open up novel paths for investigation of the nervous system microcircuits. In a large-scale collaborative effort spanning six hospitals, we used novel high-density microelectrodes to record a set of physiological events produced by the brain that have not been described before. These unique unitary neural events on the surface of the human cortex could have significant implications for understanding the brain as well as understanding pathologies such as tumors and epilepsy.
Publications
Paulk AC, Yang JC, Cleary DR, Soper DJ, Halgren M, O’Donnell AR, Lee SH, Ganji M, Ro YG, Oh H, Hossain L, Lee J, Tchoe Y, Rogers N, Kiliç K, Ryu SB, Lee SW, Hermiz J, Gilja V, Ulbert I, Fabó D, Devinsky O, Madsen JR, Schomer DL, Eskandar EN, Lee JW, Maus D, Devor A, Fried SI, Jones PS, Nahed B V, Ben-Haim S, Bick SK, Richardson RM, Raslan AMT, Siler DA, Cahill DP, Williams ZM, Cosgrove GR, Dayeh SA, Cash SS. (2021) Microscale physiological events on the human cortical surface. Cerebral Cortex. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhab040
Tchoe Y, Bourhis AM, Cleary DR, Stedelin B, Lee J, Tonsfeldt KJ, Brown EC, Siler D, , Yang JC, Oh H, Ro YG, Choi W, Lee K, Russman S, Ganji M, Galton I, Ben-Haim S, Raslan AM, Dayeh SA. (2022). Human Brain Mapping with Multi-Thousand Channel PtNRGrids Resolves Novel Spatiotemporal Dynamics. Science Translational Medicine. 14: eabj1441. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abj1441
High Resolution Recordings of Single Cells in the Human Brain
We have worked with multiple institutions, clinicians, engineers, neuroscientists, and patient participants to develop and use new technologies to record single cell brain activity in the human cortex, including a Nature Protocols paper on how to adapt this technology to the human operating room. All this work includes the use of Neuropixels probes, thin film micro-stereo EEG electrodes, and thumbtack laminar electrodes.
Related papers and posts
Thumbtack laminar electrode:
Neuropixels:
- Large-scale neural recordings with single neuron resolution using Neuropixels probes in human cortex
- Single-neuronal elements of speech production in humans
- Modified Neuropixels probes for recording human neurophysiology in the operating room
Thin film micro-sEEG:
Publications
Paulk AC, Kfir Y, Khanna AR, Mustroph ML, Trautmann EM, Soper DJ, Stavisky SD, Welkenhuysen M, Dutta B, Shenoy K V, Hochberg LR, Richardson RM, Williams ZM, Cash SS (2022) Large-scale neural recordings with single neuron resolution using Neuropixels probes in human cortex. Nat Neurosci. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-021-00997-0
Coughlin B, Muñoz W, Kfir Y, Young MJ, Meszéna D, Jamali M, Caprara I, Hardstone R, Khanna A, Mustroph ML, Trautmann EM, Windolf C, Varol E, Soper DJ, Stavisky SD, Welkenhuysen M, Dutta B, Shenoy KV, Hochberg LR, Mark Richardson R, Williams ZM, Cash SS, Paulk AC. Modified Neuropixels probes for recording human neurophysiology in the operating room. Nat Protoc. 2023 Sep 11. doi: 10.1038/s41596-023-00871-2. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37697108.
Lee K., Paulk AC, Ro YG, Cleary DR, Tonsfeldt KJ, Kfir Y, Pezaris J, Tchoe Y, Lee J, Bourhis AM, Vatsyayan R, Martin JR, Russman SM, Yang JC, Baohan A, Richardson RM, Williams ZM, Fried SI, U HS, Raslan AM, Ben-Haim S, Halgren E, Cash SS, Dayeh SA, 2023. Flexible, Scalable, High Channel Count Stereo-Electrode for Recording in the Human Brain. Nature Communications. 15, 218 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43727-9
Khanna AR, Muñoz W, Kim YJ, Kfir Y, Paulk AC, Jamali M, Cai J, Mustroph ML, Caprara I, Hardstone R, Mejdell M, Meszéna D, Zuckerman A, Schweitzer J, Cash S, Williams ZM. Single-neuronal elements of speech production in humans. Nature. 2024 Jan 31. doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06982-w. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38297120.
Jamali M, Grannan B, Cai J, Khanna AR, Muñoz W, Caprara I, Paulk AC, Cash SS, Fedorenko E, Williams ZM. Semantic encoding during langua Save ge comprehension at single-cell resolution. Nature. 2024 Jul;631(8021):610-616. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07643-2. Epub 2024 Jul 3. PMID: 38961302; PMCID: PMC11254762.