Coleman Institute Partners with School of Engineering, School of Medicine, and School of Arts and Sciences to fund Cellular Engineering Micro Systems
(CEMS)-Based Chronic Brain Implant Feasibility Study

The Coleman Institute partners with the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder to support a feasibility study for CEMS-based chronic brain implants.

Engineers at the University of Colorado at Boulder and biomedical scientists at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC) have formed a collaboration to apply nanotechnology to the development of brain implants that can be used to study mechanisms of learning. The study aims to design, construct and implement neuronal implants for in vivo recording and stimulation in the brain of awake behaving animals. These probes will ultimately allow for long-term interaction with neurons in a "wire free" environment. The major challenge is to develop implants that do not interfere with normal behavior. Initially, the probes will be used to study mechanisms of olfactory learning and memory in freely behaving mice.

One of the most challenging aspects of understanding the causes and therapeutic approaches to cognitive disabilities is the fact that little is known about the mechanisms underlying long-term memory. One reason for this lack of understanding is the unavailability of tools necessary to study the problem. The development of chronic brain implants will allow researchers to detect the activity of large ensembles of neurons in awake behaving mice. The combination of mouse genetics with multielectrode array recording and stimulation should allow researchers to probe more effectively into the mechanisms of long term memory storage and retrieval.

The interdisciplinary team includes Dudley Finch, (Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder); Roop Mahajan, (Mechanical Engineering, UCB); Diego Restrepo (Cellular and Structural Biology and Neuroscience, UCHSC); Andrew Sharp (Cellular and Structural Biology, UCHSC and Environmental, Population, and Organismic (EPO) Biology, UCB); Michael Stowell, Mollecular, Cellular, and Developmental (MCD) Biology, UCB); and Regan Zane (Electrical and Computer Engineering, UCB).