EXC 1003 FF-2017-10 - Biohybrid neurosynaptic chips interfaced with nanostructured, integrated optics

Basic data for this project

Description

Nerve cells in the brain are linked with each other through a large number of connections. They use these connections, known as synapses, to transmit signals from cell to cell and communicate with one another. During this process of synaptic transmission, the emitting nerve cell, electrically stimulated, releases signalling molecules which, in turn, electrically stimulate receiving cells. These are stored in vesicles in the cell process – the axon – of the emitting nerve cell and are released when the vesicles merge with the cell membrane. In this project, biophysicists and nanophysicists are aiming to jointly develop a new model which will enable them to analyse the variability of synapses in the signal emitting nerve cells. Not much is currently known about this. The researchers want to know whether the synapses change their structure and activity immediately after they have become active. Can nerve cells activate their individual synapses on a process to different extents, depending on the activity a receiving nerve cell requires? In order to eventually find answers to these questions, the researchers are developing a chip onto which they place both nerve cells and, at certain spots, proteins which induce the formation of synapses. The aim is for artificial synapses to grow between nerve cells and chip structures enabling the communication between nerve cells and chip. In the process, optical waveguides on the chip stimulate the cells, receive optical signals from the artificial synapses and pass these on to other cells and synapses.