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

- -动物如何做出正确的决定，选择一种适当的行为来表达另一种行为，在个体大脑的水平上还没有得到很好的理解神经元然而，这种决策并不总是容易研究或理解的，因为许多因素可以以动态的方式（例如，波动的神经激素或环境条件）使行为选择产生偏差。即使在大脑神经元数量减少的简单无脊椎动物中，其神经网络的运行状态既不容易跟踪也不可预测。因此，为了解决神经科学领域中一些最紧迫的问题，必须取得技术进步，以便在更自然的条件下研究大脑的功能。为此，一个由工程、纳米科学、化学、计算机科学和生物学科学家组成的团队将共同设计、制造和测试一种新型的大脑记录和刺激设备，该设备将同时检测神经活性物质的波动。该团队将开始制造该设备的原型，并在水蛭和昆虫的大脑上进行测试，这些大脑的神经元较少，但神经细胞活动和行为之间有明确的相关性。该团队致力于研究生和本科生，特别是女性和代表性不足的少数民族的跨学科交叉培训。团队指导的目标是使学生精通该设备的生物学和工程学方面。学校访问也计划让K-12学生参与神经科学，化学和工程相关的演示，鼓励他们参与STEM领域。该跨学科团队将制造和测试一种新型的多电极集成皮层电图（ECoG）设备和具有高时间分辨率的化学传感系统。模式化的大脑活动将与神经调节物质如多巴胺（DA）、5-羟色胺（5-HT）和章鱼胺（OA）平行收集。该团队的目标是制造一种2 x 2 mm正方形，微米级薄，灵活和生物相容的设备，以最少的输出线扩展使用;我们未来的目标将是开发一个完整的遥感/监测能力。这种制造后的修改将在明尼苏达大学的纳米中心进行。此外，该团队的目标是确定保守的神经算法或规则，用于跨无脊椎动物（水蛭和蜜蜂）到非人类灵长类动物的上下文相关决策。制造的装置将被放置：1）当水蛭决定爬行或游泳时，（DA和5-HT依赖性转换）; 2）在改良PER期间，（长鼻子-延伸）学习记忆任务（潜在的DA，5-HT和OA参与）;和3）在空间认知任务期间，在猴子的前额叶皮层上，该任务将模仿用于蜜蜂的任务（测量DA变化）。

------------------------------------Abstract Proposal #1451007This 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).