Neuro-flakes: Direct Voltage Imaging of Neural Activity with Atomically-thin Optoelectronic Materials

神经薄片：用原子薄的直接电压成像神经活动 光电材料 以高分辨率记录神经群体的电活动对于以下方面至关重要： 研究神经回路和认知功能。虽然电生理学仍然是一个 神经科学中广泛使用的工具，它缺乏实际的可扩展性和长期的稳定性，需要解决 大脑中的大规模信息处理。穿透电极对人体具有高度破坏性， 当神经组织大量插入多个区域和多个通道时 即使是最先进的，也只有几百个。 probes.另一方面，诸如钙成像的光学技术能够记录 神经活动的影响。然而，钙瞬变是缓慢的，也不是直接的 神经元的输出信息的表示。它们是一些电子信号的二级标记 神经元的非电性变化导致电性和非电性变化之间的显著差异。 记录动作电位和钙瞬变。电位的直接测量. 多空间尺度是研究信息集成、分布和处理的关键 在大脑里。在这里，我们提出了一个独特的和创新的电压成像技术，神经薄片， 用于全光学大规模监测神经元群体的电活动。神经片会 联合收割机结合了三个关键创新：（i）3原子厚的MoS2纳米片将提供量子 用于神经活动的直接电压感测的基于约束的激子光致发光 在多个空间尺度上，（ii）平面和可注射的神经薄片将作为无毒， 非遗传的，光稳定的替代基因编码的电压指示器（GEVI）， 未来人类应用的潜力，以及（iii）MoS2的辐射寿命约为 几皮秒，可能使光学检测的神经活动与非凡的 时间分辨率神经薄片将联合收割机结合电生理学的优点和 光学成像的便利性，而不需要电线的侵入性， 直接探测单个神经元和神经元微电路在多个空间产生的电压 和时间尺度。

Neuro-flakes: Direct Voltage Imaging of Neural Activity with Atomically-thin Optoelectronic Materials Recording electrical activity of neural populations with high resolution is essential to investigate neural circuits and cognitive functions. Although electrophysiology remains to be a widespread tool in neuroscience, it lacks practical scalability and chronic stability needed to tackle large-scale information processing in the brain. Penetrating electrodes are highly destructive to the neural tissue when inserted in large numbers across multiple areas and number of channels that can be simultaneously recorded are limited to a few hundreds, even with the most advanced probes. On the other hand, optical technologies such as calcium imaging are capable of recording neural activity from large populations. However, calcium transients are slow and also not a direct representation of output information of neurons. They are a secondary marker of some electrical and nonelectrical changes in neurons leading to significant discrepancies between electrically recorded action potentials and calcium transients. Direct measurement of electric potentials at multiple spatial scales is crucial to investigate information integration, distribution and processing in the brain. Here, we propose a unique and innovative voltage imaging technology, Neuro-flakes, for all-optical large-scale monitoring of electrical activity of neuron populations. Neuro-flakes will combine three key innovations: (i) 3-atom thick MoS2 nanosheets will provide quantum confinement-based excitonic photoluminescence for direct voltage sensing of neural activity across multiple spatial scales, (ii) Planar and injectable Neuro-flakes will serve as a nontoxic, nongenetic, and photostable alternative to genetically encoded voltage indicators (GEVIs) with a potential for human applications in the future, and (iii) MoS2 has a radiative lifetime on the order of several picoseconds, potentially enabling optical detection of neural activity with extraordinary temporal resolution. Neuro-flakes will combine the advantages of electrophysiology with the convenience of optical imaging, without the invasiveness of or the need for electrical wires, to directly probe voltages generated by single neurons and neuronal microcircuits at multiple spatial and temporal scales.