In vitro 2-D networks of neurons characterized by processing the signals recorded with a planar microtransducer array

The purpose of this paper is to extensively analyze and utilize the key features that characterize the recently available electrophysiological technique of growing selected populations of neurons on planar substrate microelectrode arrays. This experimental configuration is first simulated by modeling the signal transduction operated by an array of microtransducers coupled to a network of Hodgkin-Huxley-like neurons, connected to each other with given levels of synaptic strength. Signal processing tools are then described and validated by identifying the various degrees of connectivity previously introduced into the simulated network. Finally, these software tools are utilized to characterize the activity and identify the synaptic connectivity of networks of cultured neurons extracted from dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of chick embryos and exposed to synapse inhibiting/reinforcing ions. As a result, correlations between various regimens of electrophysiological activity and synaptic strength are obtained.

[1]  Aaas News,et al.  Book Reviews , 1893, Buffalo Medical and Surgical Journal.

[2]  H. Thoenen,et al.  Sensory neurons in culture: changing requirements for survival factors during embryonic development. , 1980, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[3]  Sergio Martinoia,et al.  Interfacing cultured neurons to planar substrate microelectrodes: characterization of the neuron-to-microelectrode junction☆ , 1995 .

[4]  J.P. Miller,et al.  Optimal discrimination and classification of neuronal action potential waveforms from multiunit, multichannel recordings using software-based linear filters , 1994, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[5]  S J Schiff,et al.  Stochastic versus deterministic variability in simple neuronal circuits: II. Hippocampal slice. , 1994, Biophysical journal.

[6]  The neuro-electronic interface: measurements and model predictions , 1996 .

[7]  M. Grattarola,et al.  Modeling the neuron-microtransducer junction: from extracellular to patch recording , 1993, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[8]  A. Kawana,et al.  Simultaneous measurement of intracellular calcium and electrical activity from patterned neural networks in culture , 1993, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[9]  A.F. Atiya,et al.  Recognition of multiunit neural signals , 1992, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[10]  M. Mayer,et al.  Voltage-dependent block by Mg2+ of NMDA responses in spinal cord neurones , 1984, Nature.

[11]  Terrence J. Sejnowski,et al.  An Efficient Method for Computing Synaptic Conductances Based on a Kinetic Model of Receptor Binding , 1994, Neural Computation.

[12]  L. Nowak,et al.  Magnesium gates glutamate-activated channels in mouse central neurones , 1984, Nature.

[13]  J. Nicholls.  From neuron to brain , 1976 .

[14]  Mitchell J. Mergenthaler.  Nonparametrics: Statistical Methods Based on Ranks , 1979 .

[15]  G. Gross.  Simultaneous Single Unit Recording in vitro with a Photoetched Laser Deinsulated Gold Multimicroelectrode Surface , 1979, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[16]  M. Abeles,et al.  Multispike train analysis , 1977, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[17]  A Kawana,et al.  Periodic synchronized bursting and intracellular calcium transients elicited by low magnesium in cultured cortical neurons. , 1993, Journal of neurophysiology.

[18]  H. Robinson,et al.  The mechanisms of generation and propagation of synchronized bursting in developing networks of cortical neurons , 1995, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[19]  R. Hoffman,et al.  Nonlinear sequence-dependent structure of nigral dopamine neuron interspike interval firing patterns. , 1995, Biophysical journal.

[20]  S J Schiff,et al.  Stochastic versus deterministic variability in simple neuronal circuits: I. Monosynaptic spinal cord reflexes. , 1994, Biophysical journal.

[21]  M. Dichter,et al.  The action potential of chick dorsal root ganglion neurones maintained in cell culture. , 1977, The Journal of physiology.

[22]  W. Regehr,et al.  A long-term in vitro silicon-based microelectrode-neuron connection , 1988, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[23]  M. Kim,et al.  Mathematical description of a bursting pacemaker neuron by a modification of the Hodgkin-Huxley equations. , 1976, Biophysical journal.

[24]  G. P. Moore,et al.  Neuronal spike trains and stochastic point processes. II. Simultaneous spike trains. , 1967, Biophysical journal.

[25]  S. Erulkar,et al.  Reflexes, fictive respiration and cell division in the brain and spinal cord of the newborn opossum, Monodelphis domestica, isolated and maintained in vitro. , 1990, The Journal of experimental biology.

[26]  Guenter W. Gross,et al.  Neuronal networks for biochemical sensing , 1992 .

[27]  A. Hodgkin,et al.  A quantitative description of membrane current and its application to conduction and excitation in nerve , 1952, The Journal of physiology.

[28]  G. P. Moore,et al.  Neuronal spike trains and stochastic point processes. I. The single spike train. , 1967, Biophysical journal.

[29]  Y. Jimbo,et al.  Electrical stimulation and recording from cultured neurons using a planar electrode array , 1992 .

[30]  S. Martinoia,et al.  A general-purpose system for long-term recording from a microelectrode array coupled to excitable cells , 1993, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[31]  G. Gross,et al.  Stimulation of monolayer networks in culture through thin-film indium-tin oxide recording electrodes , 1993, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.