EAGER: All-Optical Recording of Neural Activity by Excitonic Photoluminescence in 2D Optoelectronic Materials

了解大脑回路的功能以及信息在大脑中是如何处理的，对于开发有效的治疗癫痫和阿尔茨海默病等神经疾病的方法是很有帮助的。在非常快的时间尺度上记录大脑活动，并记录细胞水平的细节，是破译大脑运作方式的“圣杯”。电记录是检测快速大脑活动的最先进技术。然而，它对脑组织是侵入性的，缺乏大面积所需的细胞水平的细节。在这里，作为另一种选择，研究小组提议探索一种新兴的超薄半导体材料的电压敏感光发射。这种变革性的方法可能会利用光学显微镜记录非常快速的大脑活动和细胞细节。如果成功，这项拟议的工作将有助于保持美国在神经科学研究方面的领先地位。在拟议的工作过程中，博士生和本科生将接受这项技术的培训。此外，结果将在国家和国际会议上传播。来自代表不足的群体及其家庭的高中生将通过加州大学圣迭戈分校的科学和工程与家庭计划接触。该项目还将通过加州大学伯克利分校的暑期实习计划为本科生提供研究实习机会。了解大脑回路的功能和研究大脑中的信息处理需要以高空间和时间分辨率记录大范围的神经活动。虽然电生理学是神经科学中使用最广泛的工具，但它并没有提供空间分辨率和可扩展性来破译大脑分布式网络中的信息处理。这项提议提出了一种名为纳米片电压成像的变革性技术，用于对神经元群体的电活动进行全光学大规模监测。这项研究的主要重点将是全面研究新兴低维半导体材料中量子限制光致发光的电压灵敏度。这些直接带隙半导体中几皮秒的辐射发射寿命，潜在地使光学检测神经活动具有非凡的时间分辨率，同时保持衍射有限的空间分辨率。如果成功，这项研究将为一种全新的电生理学工具奠定基础，该工具不需要电极或电线的侵入性，利用光学成像的非侵入性和实用性，直接在多个空间和时间尺度上成像单个神经元和神经元微电路产生的电压。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Understanding the functions of brain circuits and how information is processed in the brain are instrumental for the development of effective treatments for neurological disorders such as epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease. Recording of brain activity on very fast time scales with cellular level details is the “Holy Grail” for deciphering how the brain operates. Electrical recording is the state-of-the-art for detection of fast brain activity. However, it is invasive for the brain tissue and lacks the required cellular level detail over large areas. Here, as an alternative, the research team proposes to explore voltage sensitive light emission from an emerging class of ultrathin semiconducting materials. This transformative approach can potentially offer recording of very fast brain activity with cellular detail utilizing an optical microscope. If successful, the proposed work will help maintain the leadership of the US in neuroscience research. Over the course of the proposed work, doctoral and undergraduate students will be trained on this technology. Furthermore, the results will be disseminated at national and international conferences. High school students from underrepresented groups and their families will be engaged through UCSD Science and Engineering with the Family programs. The project will also provide research internship opportunities for undergraduate students through the “Summer Internship" program at UCSD.Understanding the functions of brain circuits and investigating information processing in the brain requires recording neural activity with high spatial and temporal resolution across large areas. Although electrophysiology has been the most widely used tool in neuroscience, it does not offer the spatial resolution and scalability to decipher information processing in distributed networks of the brain. This proposal presents a transformative technology dubbed nanosheet voltage imaging for all-optical large-scale monitoring of electrical activity of neuron populations. The primary focus of the proposed research will be the comprehensive investigation of voltage sensitivity of quantum-confined photoluminescence in emerging low dimensional semiconductor materials. Radiative emission lifetime of several picoseconds in these direct bandgap semiconductors, potentially enable optical detection of neural activity with an extraordinary temporal resolution while maintaining diffraction limited spatial resolution. If successful, this study will lay the groundwork for a radically new electrophysiology tool without the invasiveness of electrodes or electrical wires, by employing the noninvasiveness and practicality of optical imaging, to directly image voltages generated by single neurons and neuronal microcircuits at multiple spatial and temporal scales.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.