© 2024 KRCU Public Radio
90.9 Cape Girardeau | 88.9-HD Ste. Genevieve | 88.7 Poplar Bluff
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Researchers Develop Brain-Embedded LED Devices

Credit University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign and Washington University-St. Louis
/
St.Louis Public radio

Researchers at Washington University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed tiny, wireless devices that can be implanted inside the brains of mice to influence their behavior.

The devices include ultra-miniaturized light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, which allowed the researchers to stimulate the animals' brain cells, some of which had been genetically engineered to respond to light.

University of Illinois materials scientist John Rogers co-led the study. He says the devices are on the same size-scale as cells, so they can penetrate far down into the brain.

“Those devices are connected via very thin filamentary wires to an external control and power module, which also itself is very small, but which mounts on the outside surface of the skull almost like a cap,” Rogers said.

Study co-lead, Washington University neuroscientist Michael Bruchas, says they wanted to find a way to control the brain circuits of the mice without using wires or tethers.

"We came up with a solution to allow for wireless control using similar technology that's in your cell phone to actually control these microLEDs, and then in turn control inside, deep inside the brain, various populations of neurons that we're interested in studying,” Bruchas said.

Bruchas says the devices will help researchers study mouse brain pathways involved in behaviors like anxiety and addiction.

In the future, similar technologies could be used to treat human brain disorders like Parkinson's disease.

Related Content