Electrodes densely packed with sensors, like the Neuropixels probe shown here, allow scientists to record from hundreds of cells. Credit: Imec

News
04/26/2017

Coming Soon: Routine Recording From Thousands of Neurons

New electrode technologies dramatically increase the number of cells and length of time that scientists can record from the brain.

BY:Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain

Summary: New electrode technologies dramatically increase the number of cells and length of time that scientists can record from the brain.

When Jason Chung woke up early on December 22 of last year, he opted to avoid his morning coffee. The graduate student would need steady hands for the grueling 18-hour surgery ahead of him, his first attempt at implanting more than 1,000 electrodes in a tiny rat brain. Over the course of the day, he would perform 10 tiny craniotomies, each opening implanted with one or more 64-electrode probes. Chung, who works in Loren Frank’s lab at the University of California, San Francisco, would soon be able to simultaneously record from hundreds of neurons across the brain.

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