A Multimodular System to Study the Impact of a Focal Lesion in Neuronal Cell Cultures

Characterizing neuronal networks activity and their dynamical changes due to endogenous and exogenous causes is a key issue of computational neuroscience and constitutes a fundamental contribution towards the development of innovative intervention strategies in case of brain damage. We address this challenge by making use of a multimodular system able to confine the growth of cells on substrate-embedded microelectrode arrays to investigate the interactions between networks of neurons. We observed their spontaneous and electrically induced network activity before and after a laser cut disconnecting one of the modules from all the others. We found that laser dissection induced de-synchronized activity among different modules during spontaneous activity, and prevented the propagation of evoked responses among modules during electrical stimulation. This reproducible experimental model constitutes a test-bed for the design and development of innovative computational tools for characterizing neural damage, and of novel neuro-prostheses aimed at restoring lost neuronal functionality between distinct brain areas.