Large-scale neural recordings at single-neuron resolution in human cortex using neural pixel probes

How brain cells communicate with each other remains largely a mystery, but a probe that records neuronal signals with unprecedented clarity and precision may help, according to a study by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to unlock these secrets

In 2017, a Belgian digital technology company called IMEC partnered with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (including the Janelia Research Campus) to launch the Neuropixel Probe, a tool for recording the activity of brain cells or neurons

Early techniques for recording neuronal activity often relied on relatively large electrodes inserted into the brain

However, the original neuropixel probe was designed as a research tool for use in small laboratory animals such as rodents

The goal of this report in Nature Neuroscience is to develop a technique that uses modified neuropixel probes to record brain activity in human patients undergoing neurosurgery in the operating room

The team, which includes epilepsy specialist Sydney Cash, MD, and neurosurgeon Ziv Williams, MD, both members of the MGH, encountered challenges using the Neuropixels probe in humans after six unsuccessful attempts to record brain activity

Why is recording the behavior of individual neurons important? "Thanks to new high-resolution tools, we found that different types of cells are doing very interesting things," Paulk said

Decoding the communication between neurons with neuropixel detectors and other tools could lead to new discoveries about neurological diseases such as epilepsy and how tumor cells invade neighboring cells in the brain, Paulk said, as well as helping to develop tools for people with disabilities to use Their brains operate computers and robotic devices, allowing them to live more independently

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Large-scale neural recordings with single neuron resolution using Neuropixels probes in human cortex