Ultrafine LED probe born nervous system disease usher in a new machine

To find a cure for Alzheimer's disease, scientists need to develop a way to give them a better understanding of how the brain works. Researchers at the University of Michigan have recently taken a step toward this goal, and have developed the smallest brain implanted LED probes. In the field of optical genetics, implanted fiber is used to stimulate the brain cells (exposed to light pulses), while the second device will record the next step of the reaction.

Scientists at the University of Michigan say that such a setup does not record how neurons communicate with each other, but their new probes can.

The width of each probe is less than 0.1mm (not more than 1 neurons), which contains 12 LED and 32 electrodes, and any LED can be used to activate a neuron.

When this is done, the electrodes can detect any response from other neurons in the network. In the study of how animals form memories, New York University has already tested this technique on experimental mice.

University of Michigan Postdoctoral Research Institute Fan Wu said: "we can now know near and remote group how cells respond to a single cell is activated, it will help us to better understand the mutual communication between cells".

A paper on the probe has been published in a recent issue of the journal Neuron (Neuron). Prior to this, scientists at the University of Illinois and the University of Washington have developed LED single needles for activating neurons, but they do not contain electrodes for detecting responses.

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