Date: Friday, December 1, 2017
Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Speaker: Mehmet Kanik, Ph.D.
Affiliation: Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Polina Anikeeva Lab, Research Laboratory of Electronics, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT

Talk Title: Brain Challenges and Materials Solutions.
Abstract: Electrophysiological recording requires precise tools that produce minimal tissue damage while allowing stable and reliable, low signal to noise ratio recording from specific regions of the brain. Probes made of stiff materials that have a significant mechanical mismatch with the brain cause drastic changes in neural dynamics in both chronic and acute implantations. Probes fabricated using metals, glasses, and semiconductors often fail to deliver high-quality recording in long-term experiments.  Next generation neural probes should be designed to integrate multiple capabilities such as simultaneous light delivery and electrophysiological recording, infusion of pharmacological compounds and viral vectors, while maintaining a small footprint (< 500 um) to accommodate repeated behavioral evaluation over the course of several months.

Recently developed fiber-based flexible devices use biocompatible materials which exhibit mechanical properties similar to the brain. In addition, polymer probes developed in the Bioelectronics lab address the challenges in neural probe engineering by enabling simultaneous electrical recording, optical excitation, and microfluidic functions while reducing the foreign body response as compared to commercially available tools. Here, we introduce fiber neural probes to map the cortical circuits involved in interleukin-17a (IL-17a) dependent maternal immune activation (MIA) driven autism spectrum disorder (ASD) mouse model.