Tools and Techniques for Electrical and Optical Stimulation and Recording from the Nervous System

神经系统是意识的本质，也是我们与周围事物互动的方式。它的复杂性和优雅性令人惊讶，尽管科学家们已经研究了几个世纪，但我们对神经系统还有很多不了解。这些知识之所以重要，是因为要修复某些东西，人们必须了解它。因此，当神经系统出现问题时，无论是对神经的物理损伤，医学界需要了解潜在的原因，以最佳地治疗它。研究神经系统的科学家经常使用动物模型，因为它们可以简化和集中approach.这需要专门的工具和技术来测量和操纵神经系统。我的研究计划侧重于设计，实施和测试电子和光学设备和方法，用于研究常用的小动物模型，如大鼠和小鼠的神经系统。 该应用专注于三个领域的技术开发：损伤后神经的再生，来自大脑深处的信号的光学测量以及从测量的光学信号中分离伪影。一段时间以来，人们已经知道对从损伤中恢复的神经施加电刺激可以改善其结果。然而，这是如何或为什么工作是未知的，也没有明确的指导方针，什么样的刺激应用，什么时候，以及多长时间应用它。我的团队正在创造一种可以刺激和监测神经恢复的植入式设备，这是一种可以被我们的神经外科医生合作者用于神经恢复研究的工具。第二个和第三个目标集中在大脑表面深处发生的功能，如运动活动的精细控制和对压力的反应。用于研究大脑的光学工具具有几个优点，但很难应用于脑深部区域，并且容易受到不期望的伪影的影响。我们将创造光学工具来观察和操纵难以进入的大脑深部区域，并设计技术来减少伪影的影响。我们的临床医生-科学家合作者可以使用这些技术进行研究，为帕金森病和震颤等运动疾病设计更好的治疗方法，并试图了解为什么大多数人可以从压力事件中快速恢复，而有些人则遭受慢性不良反应。 通过这项工作，研究生和本科生将获得电子，光学，信号处理和生物学方面的跨学科技能，使他们能够弥合科学家和工程师之间的差距。将创造新的测量和仪器技术。这些将有助于更好地了解大脑功能，这对于改善神经系统疾病患者生活质量的最佳治疗是必要的。

The nervous system is the essence of consciousness, and is how we interact with everything around us. It is astonishing in its complexity and elegance, and although scientists have been studying it for centuries, there is much that we do not know about the nervous system. One reason this knowledge is critical is because to fix something, one has to understand it. Thus, when something goes wrong with the nervous system be it physical injury to nerves, or mental health problems that may be outwardly invisible the medical community needs to understand the underlying cause to optimally treat it. Scientists studying the nervous system frequently use animal models because they allow a simplified and focused approach. This needs specialized tools and techniques to measure from and manipulate the nervous system. My research program focuses on designing, implementing and testing electronic and optical devices and methods for studying the nervous system in commonly used small animal models like rats and mice. This application focuses on technology development for three areas: regeneration of nerves after injury, optical measurement of signals from deep inside the brain and separating artifacts from the measured optical signals. It has been known for some time that applying electrical stimulation to a nerve recovering from injury can improve its outcome. However, how or why this works is unknown, and there are no clear guidelines about what kind of stimulation to apply, when, and how long to apply it for. My group is creating implantable devices that can stimulate and also monitor the nerve's recovery, a tool that can be used by our neurosurgeon collaborators for their studies into nerve recovery. The second and third aims focus on brain functions that occur deep beneath its surface such as the fine control of motor activity and the response to stress. Optical tools for studying the brain have several advantages, but are very difficult to apply to deep brain areas and are susceptible to undesirable artifacts. We will create optical tools for observing and manipulating hard to access deep brain areas and design techniques to reduce the effects of artifacts. Our clinician-scientist collaborators can use such technologies for their studies into designing better treatments for motor diseases like Parkinson's disease and tremor, and for trying to understand why most people can recover quickly from a stressful event, while some suffer from chronic adverse effects. With the work proposed, graduate and undergraduate students will gain interdisciplinary skills in electronics, optics, signal processing, and biology, enabling them to bridge gaps between scientists and engineers. New measurement and instrumentation technologies will be created. These will lead to a better understanding of brain function, necessary for optimal treatments to improve the quality of life of those suffering from diseases of the nervous system.