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Fabrication of flexible shank-electrodes for long-term multi-area electrophysiological recordings in the prefrontal areas of behaving rats
We are looking for a student who will establish a reliable recipe for the fabrication and assembly of minimally-invasive and flexible electrode shanks that will be used for recordings from the prefrontal areas of awake behaving rats in decision-making paradigms for brain machine interfaces.
Keywords: Flexible electrode arrays, microfabrication, in vivo electrophysiology, minimally invasive neural interfaces, brain machine interfaces
**Background and Motivation**
While some work has been done in the past on quantitative analyses of the temporal and spatial dynamics of local field potentials in the rodent neocortex, there is more to be investigated about the interesting patterns observed in the temporal dynamics of the local field potentials recorded from the prefrontal areas and how they relate to the activities of the single units nearby.
To obtain stable recordings from same set of single units up to several months with minimal damage to the tissue, we are currently establishing a protocol for manufacturing flexible electrode shanks with 32-64 channels of very low impedances, inspired by NeuroRoots (Ferro et al 2018, bioRxiv). We would like to use this technology to perform simultaneous recordings from the multiple layers of prefrontal areas of rats such as layer 2/3 and layer 5 of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), prelimbic cortex (PrL) and infralimbic cortex (IL), while the animal is in a cue discrimination task.
**Project Description**
Initially, the student will help to establish a protocol to reliably manufacture and assemble the devices, and to test them in acute single-area recordings in vivo. Next stages will involve extending the recordings to multiple areas and developing interfaces with the data acquisition system for these multi-areal recordings. We also would like to incorporate a magnetic layer on the electrode pads to post-surgically locate them with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Depending on the motivation and interests of the student, this project gives them the opportunity to learn among a variety of skills including microfabrication techniques, efficiently interfacing multichannel electrode arrays with data acquisition systems, rodent brain surgery for acute/chronic electrode implants or analysis of in vivo electrophysiology data.
**Recommended Background**
Background in physical sciences or engineering is strongly preferred; any background on in vivo electrophysiology is bonus. Experience with Python would be very helpful if the student is interested in the analysis of electrophysiology data.
The student will have the opportunity to work in a cleanroom environment for microfabrication in case of a master thesis. For semester projects, this is not possible due to logistical reasons.
**Background and Motivation**
While some work has been done in the past on quantitative analyses of the temporal and spatial dynamics of local field potentials in the rodent neocortex, there is more to be investigated about the interesting patterns observed in the temporal dynamics of the local field potentials recorded from the prefrontal areas and how they relate to the activities of the single units nearby.
To obtain stable recordings from same set of single units up to several months with minimal damage to the tissue, we are currently establishing a protocol for manufacturing flexible electrode shanks with 32-64 channels of very low impedances, inspired by NeuroRoots (Ferro et al 2018, bioRxiv). We would like to use this technology to perform simultaneous recordings from the multiple layers of prefrontal areas of rats such as layer 2/3 and layer 5 of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), prelimbic cortex (PrL) and infralimbic cortex (IL), while the animal is in a cue discrimination task.
**Project Description**
Initially, the student will help to establish a protocol to reliably manufacture and assemble the devices, and to test them in acute single-area recordings in vivo. Next stages will involve extending the recordings to multiple areas and developing interfaces with the data acquisition system for these multi-areal recordings. We also would like to incorporate a magnetic layer on the electrode pads to post-surgically locate them with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Depending on the motivation and interests of the student, this project gives them the opportunity to learn among a variety of skills including microfabrication techniques, efficiently interfacing multichannel electrode arrays with data acquisition systems, rodent brain surgery for acute/chronic electrode implants or analysis of in vivo electrophysiology data.
**Recommended Background**
Background in physical sciences or engineering is strongly preferred; any background on in vivo electrophysiology is bonus. Experience with Python would be very helpful if the student is interested in the analysis of electrophysiology data.
The student will have the opportunity to work in a cleanroom environment for microfabrication in case of a master thesis. For semester projects, this is not possible due to logistical reasons.
The first goal of this project is to establish a reliable recipe for both the fabrication of low-impedance and flexible electrode shanks and the self assembly of these flexible shanks around rigid wires to guide the implantation into the rodent brain. If time permits, we will also implement an MRI-contrast layer on the electrode pads and extend the recordings to multiple areas. The latter of these tasks would require finding a solution for efficiently interfacing the multiple electrode shanks with the data acquisition setup, with the smallest footprint on animal skull possible.
The first goal of this project is to establish a reliable recipe for both the fabrication of low-impedance and flexible electrode shanks and the self assembly of these flexible shanks around rigid wires to guide the implantation into the rodent brain. If time permits, we will also implement an MRI-contrast layer on the electrode pads and extend the recordings to multiple areas. The latter of these tasks would require finding a solution for efficiently interfacing the multiple electrode shanks with the data acquisition setup, with the smallest footprint on animal skull possible.
If interested, please e-mail Baran Yasar (yasart@ethz.ch) with your CV and/or a short description of your background and research interests; and we can arrange a time to discuss further details.
If interested, please e-mail Baran Yasar (yasart@ethz.ch) with your CV and/or a short description of your background and research interests; and we can arrange a time to discuss further details.