Analyzing neural circuits for drug addiction, depression, etc. using brain chips

The Korea Brain Research Institute announced on the 26th that the research team led by Dr. Nam-sun Chu of the Emotional and Cognitive Disease Research Group has developed a multifunctional brain chip platform that combines electrical neural signal measurement functions with a micro-endoscope system for measuring real-time neural activity in the



nerves of small animals as fluorescent signals. To deeply understand brain function, the scientists used a micro-endoscope system that can measure neural activity by type of nerve cell while having few behavioral restrictions.



This system has a field of view similar to a microscope and can record neural activity in real time in living mice. Since it uses fluorescent signals with slow signal response, real-time analysis of neural circuit activity is limited.



Mouse (A) with ECoGScope platform installed. It can record neural signals and fluorescent images simultaneously. [Photo = Korea Brain Research Institute]



Therefore, measurement of electrical neural signals is essential for real-time analysis of neural activity according to behavior. Previous micro-endoscope systems had large structures and weights, which limited integration with neural electrodes for measuring neural activity.



Dr. Nam-seon Chu's research team developed the 'ECoGScope' (a portmanteau of ECoG electrode array and micro-endoscope) platform, which combines an ultra-small brain fluorescence endoscope system and a transparent and flexible ECoG electrode array (an electrode array that is directly attached to the brain surface to measure the brain's electrical signals) into an ultra-small module to measure the activity



of nerve cells from various perspectives with high spatiotemporal resolution. The research team explained that the 'ECoGScope' platform is designed to be ultra-small and ultra-light, so that even when attached to the brain nerves of small experimental animals such as mice, it has very little effect on behavior, and can measure neural signals with high precision.



The research team confirmed that the ECoGScope platform can be inserted into the visual cortex and sensory cortex of the mouse brain to precisely measure the activity of neural circuits that appear in response to light and pain.



By applying this system to an animal model addicted to cocaine, changes in the neural circuit in a state of addiction can be simultaneously recorded as electrical and fluorescent signals, and analyzed in an integrated manner, allowing for an in-depth understanding of the addiction phenomenon.



The corresponding author, Dr. Nam-sun Chu, said, "The ECoGScope platform developed this time can be widely used for neural circuit analysis research in animal models of various emotional and cognitive diseases, such as addiction and depression." He added, "It will be of great help in identifying the operating principles of brain diseases, developing neural circuit-based diagnostic techniques, and developing new treatments."



This study (paper title: ECoGScope: An integrated platform for real-time Electrophysiology and fluorescence imaging), in which Korea Brain Research Institute postdoctoral researchers Jong-hee Eun and Jeong-seop Kim participated as first authors and Dr. Ja-wook Koo participated as co-corresponding author, was published in the latest issue of the international journal 'Biosensors and Bioelectronics.'





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