Study of Stimulus-Induced Plasticity in Neural Networks Cultured in Microfluidic Chips

Dissociated brain cell cultures on microelectrode arrays are widely used to study fundamental mechanisms of information processing and synaptic plasticity. It has been established that high frequency electrical stimulation causes functional changes in neural networks. However, complex and homogeneous morphological structure of cultured brain cell networks presents a significant challenge for further evaluation of the synaptic plasticity at the network level. In this study, we propose a new approach to studying neural network plasticity using microfluidic devices with specially designed channels. Microfluidic chips can guide axons and form neural circuits with two subnetworks connected by synaptic paths in the required direction. To induce synaptic plasticity, high frequency tetanic stimulation by two groups of electrodes located in the area of pre- and postsynaptic neurons was applied. The developed method of potentiation and depression of the required functional connectivity in the neural circuit can be used to further study network effects of synaptic plasticity induced in the local subpopulation of cells.

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Gladkov A.A., Kolpakov V.N., Pigareva Y.I., Bukatin A.S., Kazantsev V.B., Mukhina I.V., Pimashkin A.S. Study of Stimulus-Induced Plasticity in Neural Networks Cultured in Microfluidic Chips. Sovremennye tehnologii v medicine 2017; 9(4): 15, https://doi.org/10.17691/stm2017.9.4.02