Generation of Locomotor-Like Activity in the Isolated Rat Spinal Cord Using Intraspinal Electrical Microstimulation Driven by a Digital Neuromorphic CPG.

Neural prostheses based on electrical microstimulation offer promising perspectives to restore functions following lesions of the central nervous system (CNS). They require the identification of appropriate stimulation sites and the coordination of their activation to achieve the restoration of functional activity. On the long term, a challenging perspective is to control microstimulation by artificial neural networks hybridized to the living tissue.

Current approaches to model extracellular electrical neural microstimulation.

Nowadays, high-density microelectrode arrays provide unprecedented possibilities to precisely activate spatially well-controlled central nervous system (CNS) areas. However, this requires optimizing stimulating devices, which in turn requires a good understanding of the effects of microstimulation on cells and tissues. In this context, modeling approaches provide flexible ways to predict the outcome of electrical stimulation in terms of CNS activation.

Real-time biomimetic Central Pattern Generators in an FPGA for hybrid experiments.

This investigation of the leech heartbeat neural network system led to the development of a low resources, real-time, biomimetic digital hardware for use in hybrid experiments. The leech heartbeat neural network is one of the simplest central pattern generators (CPG). In biology, CPG provide the rhythmic bursts of spikes that form the basis for all muscle contraction orders (heartbeat) and locomotion (walking, running, etc.

Estimating background-subtracted fluorescence transients in calcium imaging experiments: a quantitative approach.

Calcium imaging has become a routine technique in neuroscience for subcellular to network level investigations. The fast progresses in the development of new indicators and imaging techniques call for dedicated reliable analysis methods. In particular, efficient and quantitative background fluorescence subtraction routines would be beneficial to most of the calcium imaging research field.

Extracellular neural microstimulation may activate much larger regions than expected by simulations: a combined experimental and modeling study.

Electrical stimulation of the central nervous system has been widely used for decades for either fundamental research purposes or clinical treatment applications. Yet, very little is known regarding the spatial extent of an electrical stimulation. If pioneering experimental studies reported that activation threshold currents (TCs) increase with the square of the neuron-to-electrode distance over a few hundreds of microns, there is no evidence that this quadratic law remains valid for larger distances.

Combined macro-/mesoporous microelectrode arrays for low-noise extracellular recording of neural networks.

Microelectrode arrays (MEAs) are appealing tools to probe large neural ensembles and build neural prostheses. Microelectronics microfabrication technologies now allow building high-density MEAs containing several hundreds of microelectrodes. However, several major problems become limiting factors when the size of the microelectrodes decreases.

Focalizing electrical neural stimulation with penetrating microelectrode arrays: a modeling study.

Penetrating neural probes are considered for neuroprosthetic devices to restore sensory or motor functions of the CNS using electrical neural microstimulation. These multielectrode systems require optimal electrode configurations to allow precise and focused tissue activation. Combining a finite element model of the spinal cord and compartmentalized models of both simple and complex neuron morphologies, we evaluated the use of the "ground surface" configuration, which consists in the integration of a conductive layer on the front side of electrode shanks, for the return of the stimulation current.

Modeling extracellular electrical neural stimulation: from basic understanding to MEA-based applications.

Extracellular electrical stimulation of neural networks has been widely used empirically for decades with individual electrodes. Since recently, microtechnology provides advanced systems with high-density microelectrode arrays (MEAs). Taking the most of these devices for fundamental goals or developing neural prosthesis requires a good knowledge of the mechanisms underlying electrical stimulation.

Making neurophysiological data analysis reproducible: why and how?

Reproducible data analysis is an approach aiming at complementing classical printed scientific articles with everything required to independently reproduce the results they present. "Everything" covers here: the data, the computer codes and a precise description of how the code was applied to the data. A brief history of this approach is presented first, starting with what economists have been calling replication since the early eighties to end with what is now called reproducible research in computational data analysis oriented fields like statistics and signal processing.

Artificial CSF motion ensures rhythmic activity in the developing CNS ex vivo: a mechanical source of rhythmogenesis?

Spontaneous rhythmic activity is a ubiquitous feature of developing neural structures that has been shown to be essential for the establishment of functional CNS connectivity. However, the primordial origin of these rhythms remains unknown. Here, we describe two types of rhythmic activity in distinct parts of the developing CNS isolated ex vivo on microelectrode arrays, the expression of which was found to be strictly dependent upon the movement of the artificial CSF (aCSF) flowing over the inner wall of the ventricles or over the outer surface of the CNS.

NeuroMap: A Spline-Based Interactive Open-Source Software for Spatiotemporal Mapping of 2D and 3D MEA Data.

A major characteristic of neural networks is the complexity of their organization at various spatial scales, from microscopic local circuits to macroscopic brain-scale areas. Understanding how neural information is processed thus entails the ability to study them at multiple scales simultaneously. This is made possible using microelectrodes array (MEA) technology.

BioMEA: a versatile high-density 3D microelectrode array system using integrated electronics.

Microelectrode arrays (MEAs) offer a powerful tool to both record activity and deliver electrical microstimulations to neural networks either in vitro or in vivo. Microelectronics microfabrication technologies now allow building high-density MEAs containing several hundreds of microelectrodes. However, dense arrays of 3D micro-needle electrodes, providing closer contact with the neural tissue than planar electrodes, are not achievable using conventional isotropic etching processes.

Quantitative estimation of calcium dynamics from ratiometric measurements: a direct, nonratioing method.

Measuring variations of intracellular free calcium concentration through the changes in fluorescence of a calcium-sensitive dye is a ubiquitous technique in neuroscience. Despite its popularity, confidence intervals (CIs) on the estimated parameters of calcium dynamics models are seldom given. To address this issue, we have developed a two-stage model for ratiometric measurements obtained with a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera.

The "mirror" estimate: an intuitive predictor of membrane polarization during extracellular stimulation.

Achieving controlled extracellular microstimulation of the central nervous system requires understanding the membrane response of a neuron to an applied electric field. The "activating function" has been proposed as an intuitive predictor of membrane polarization during stimulation, but subsequent literature raised several limitations of this estimate. In this study, we show that, depending on the space constant lambda, the steady-state solution to the passive cable equation is theoretically well approximated by either the activating function when lambda is small, or the "mirror" image of the extracellular potential when lambda is large.

Improved focalization of electrical microstimulation using microelectrode arrays: a modeling study.

Extracellular electrical stimulation (EES) of the central nervous system (CNS) has been used empirically for decades, with both fundamental and clinical goals. Currently, microelectrode arrays (MEAs) offer new possibilities for CNS microstimulation. However, although focal CNS activation is of critical importance to achieve efficient stimulation strategies, the precise spatial extent of EES remains poorly understood.

A new 3-D finite-element model based on thin-film approximation for microelectrode array recording of extracellular action potential.

A transient finite-element model has been developed to simulate an extracellular action potential recording in a tissue slice by a planar microelectrode array. The thin-film approximation of the active neuron membrane allows the simulation within single finite-element software of the intracellular and extracellular potential fields. In comparison with a compartmental neuron model, it is shown that the thin-film approximation-based model is able to properly represent the neuron bioelectrical behavior in terms of transmembrane current and potential.