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

神经薄片：原子薄层神经活动的直接电压成像 光电子材料 以高分辨率记录神经群体的电活动对于 研究神经回路和认知功能。尽管电生理学仍然是一种 作为神经科学中广泛使用的工具，它缺乏解决问题所需的实用可扩展性和长期稳定性 大脑中的大规模信息处理。穿透电极对人体具有极强的破坏性 当神经组织大量插入多个区域和多个通道时 可以同时记录的仅限于几百个，即使是最先进的 探测器。另一方面，诸如钙成像之类的光学技术能够记录 大量人群的神经活动。然而，钙瞬变是缓慢的，也不是直接的 神经元输出信息的表示。它们是一些电子产品的次要标记 神经元的非电性变化导致电学上的显著差异 记录动作电位和钙瞬变。电势的直接测量 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，我们提出了一种独特的创新电压成像技术--神经片， 用于全光大规模监测神经元群体的电活动。神经薄片会 结合三项关键创新：(I)3原子厚度的MoS2纳米片将提供量子 基于限制的激子光致发光用于神经活动的直接电压传感 在多个空间尺度上，(Ii)平面和可注射神经片将作为无毒的， 遗传编码电压指示器(GEVI)的非遗传性和光稳定性替代，具有 未来人类应用的潜力，以及(Iii)MoS2的辐射寿命约为 几皮秒，潜在地使光学检测神经活动具有非凡的能力 时间分辨率。神经片将结合电生理学的优势和 光学成像的便利性，不需要电线或侵入性，以 单个神经元和神经元微电路在多个空间产生的直接探测电压 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.