Improvements in Control of Neuronal Networks

Neuronal networks offer prospects for understanding communication inside the mammalian brain as well as a future in drug testing, prosthetics and developing a brain-computer interface. Together with Bruce Wheeler at the University of Illinois, we have developed planar methods to better control signal pathways, to elicit higher spike rates with more synapses and begin to address signal processing and plasticity. In addition, with a team at Georgia Tech, we have begun to create controlled pathways in microfabricated three-dimensional structures with active fluidic and electrical elements. These studies have begun to reveal that the network properties are more than a sum of the parts and highly non-linear.