The degree of functional recovery achievable through neuronal plasticity and the molecular and cellular mechanisms that mediate neuronal plasticity are not yet well understood. However, compelling clinical and experimental evidence exist to suggest exciting possibilities for functional recovery from neuropathologies, if the above mechanisms are well understood.
The primary focus of the Neural Microsystems Lab is to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms of neuronal plasticity that will naturally enable us to engineer ways to achieve greater functional recovery through neuronal repair and plasticity. We are currently studying (a) the molecular interactions between the neurons and extra-cellular matrix/substrate and (b) the role of specific intra-cellular proteins in the development of spontaneous electrical activity and subsequent synaptic function in single neurons. Using in vitro primary neuronal culture models and in vivo rodent models and a slew of innovative microtechnologies developed in our lab, we hope to understand the mechanisms of structural and functional plasticity.
A second focus of this lab is developing novel technologies using micromachining approaches to solve the problem of establishing reliable, long-term communication with individual neurons in the brain. Besides studies on neuronal plasticity, these microdevices also promise to be critical for the success of emerging exciting technologies such as brain prostheses. The microdevices will also significantly impact other fundamental Neurobiological studies on memory formation and consolidation, somatosensory perception and motor tasks and auditory neurophysiology.
Projects are funded by the National Institute of Neurological disorders and Stroke (NINDS) of the NIH, and Arizona Biomedical Research Commission (ABRC). Past funding agencies that have supported our research include the Whitaker foundation, DARPA and the NIH.
