MULTIELECTRODE & IMAGING ANALYSIS OF CULTURED NETWORKS

目前，在体内行为研究之间存在很大的差距， 学习和记忆，以及体外研究的细胞机制， 突触可塑性 将创建一个神经科学研究工具， 通过提供培养的皮层神经元网络， 一个电脑模拟的身体，一个虚拟的现实， 规矩点。 这种研究体外学习的新范式是由以下因素促成的： 计算能力和多电极阵列基板的最新进展。 计算机和培养的神经元之间的长期双向接口 将建立网络。 识别紧急情况的软件工具 网络活动的模式将被开发，并用于触发 分布模式的电刺激在真实的时间。 的 这种感觉电机反馈回路的影响将在研究 毫秒时间尺度的光学记录使用我们定制的高速 CCD摄像机 神经元连接和形态学的变化将是 然后用我们的双光子，以分钟，小时和天为单位， 激光扫描显微镜 双光子显微镜允许扩展的高- 活细胞的高分辨率成像，而不会伤害它们或漂白它们。 荧光标记。 很明显，神经系统以一种 分布式时尚 单单位神经生理学研究很可能 错过了分布式信息的许多涌现特性 处理. 通过结合多单位电生理学和光学 在体外系统中用非破坏性双光子成像进行记录 有能力表现和学习，就有可能观察到变化， 在亚细胞、细胞和网络特性中， 和记忆 通过研究信息加工的机制， 存储在小的神经元网络中， 疾病或衰老可以被前所未有的详细检查。 信息 关于活的神经网络如何发挥作用， 更人性化的计算系统。

At present, there is a large gap between in vivo behavioral studies of learning and memory, and in vitro studies of the cellular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity. A neuroscience research tool will be created that bridges this gap by providing a network of cultured cortical neurons with a computer-simulated body, and a virtual reality in which to behave. This new paradigm for studying learning in vitro is enabled by recent advances in computing power and multi-electrode array substrates. A long-term, 2-way interface between a computer and a cultured neural network will be created. Software tools that recognize emergent patterns of network activity will be developed, and used to trigger distributed patterns of electrical stimulation in real time. The effects of this sensory-motor feedback loop will be studied at the millisecond time scale by optical recording using our custom high-speed CCD camera. Changes in neuronal connectivity and morphology will be followed on the scale of minutes, hours and days using our 2-photon laser scanning microscope. Two-photon microscopy allows extended high- resolution imaging of living cells without harming them or bleaching the fluorescent label. It is clear that neural systems process and store information in a distributed fashion. Single-unit neurophysiology research is likely to miss many of the emergent properties of distributed information processing. By combining many-unit electrophysiology and optical recording with non-destructive 2-photon imaging in an in vitro system capable of behaving and learning, it will be possible to observe changes in subcellular, cellular, and network properties that underlie learning and memory. By studying the mechanisms of information processing and storage in small networks of neurons, models of mental impairment from disease or aging can be examined with unprecedented detail. Information about how living neural networks function will promote the creation of more human-like computing systems.