Wen J, Peitz M and Brustle O.
Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 2022
Scientists use a neural co-culture and computational model to explore the effects of brain stimulation
Electrical brain stimulation is widely used in neuroscience but the underlying mechanisms of stimulation-induced effects at the cellular level are not well understood. In this study, scientists examined forebrain excitatory and inhibitory neurons from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) on Axion’s noninvasive Maestro multielectrode array (MEA) platform, combined with computational network modeling, to explore stimulation-response activity patterns in neuronal networks.
The combined approach showed that specific electrical stimulation patterns induced distinct network responses in human iPSC-derived neuronal networks and that computational network models can help uncover the underlying mechanisms of these responses. The authors suggest that these findings support the use of hPSC technology for personalized in vitro studies of human neuronal networks in the future.
