One Step Closer To An Artificial Nerve Cell

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One Step Closer To An Artificial Nerve Cell

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156787.php

Scientists at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet and Linköping

University are well on the way to creating the first artificial nerve cell that

can communicate specifically with nerve cells in the body using

neurotransmitters. The technology has been published in an article in Nature

Materials.

The methods that are currently used to stimulate nerve signals in the nervous

system are based on electrical stimulation. Examples of this are cochlear

implants, which are surgically inserted into the cochlea in the inner ear, and

electrodes that are used directly in the brain. One problem with this method is

that all cell types in the vicinity of the electrode are activated, which gives

undesired effects.

Scientists have now used an electrically conducting plastic to create a new type

of " delivery electrode " that instead releases the neurotransmitters that brain

cells use to communicate naturally. The advantage of this is that only

neighbouring cells that have receptors for the specific neurotransmitter, and

that are thus sensitive to this substance, will be activated.

The scientists demonstrate in the article in Nature Materials that the delivery

electrode can be used to control the hearing function in the brains of guinea

pigs.

" The ability to deliver exact doses of neurotransmitters opens completely new

possibilities for correcting the signalling systems that are faulty in a number

of neurological disease conditions " , says Professor Agneta Richter-Dahlfors who

has led the work, together with Professor Barbara Canlon.

The scientists intend to continue with the development of a small unit that can

be implanted into the body. It will be possible to program the unit such that

the release of neurotransmitters takes place as often or as seldom as required

in order to treat the individual patient. Research projects that are already

under way are targeted towards hearing, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease.

The research is being carried out in collaboration between the research groups

of Professor Agneta Richter-Dahlfors and Professor Barbara Canlon, together with

Professor Magnus Berggren's group at Linköping University. The work falls under

the auspices of the Center of Excellence in Organic Bioelectronics, financed by

the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research and led by Magnus Berggren and

Agneta Richter-Dahlfors.

Publication: " Organic electronics for precise delivery of neurotransmitters to

modulate mammalian sensory function " , T. Simon, Sindhulakshmi Kurup,

Karin C. Larsson, Ryusuke Hori, Klas Tybrandt, Michel Goiny, Edwin W. H. Jager,

Magnus Berggren, Barbara Canlon and Agneta Richter-Dahlfors, Nature Materials,

Advance Online Publication, 5 June 2009.