title: In vitro large-scale experimental and theoretical studies for the realization of bi-directional brain-prostheses.
abstract: Brain-machine interfaces (BMI) were born to control "actions from thoughts" in order to recover motor capability of patients with impaired functional connectivity between the central and peripheral nervous system. The final goal of our studies is the development of a new proof-of-concept BMI-a neuromorphic chip for brain repair-to reproduce the functional organization of a damaged part of the central nervous system. To reach this ambitious goal, we implemented a multidisciplinary "bottom-up" approach in which in vitro networks are the paradigm for the development of an in silico model to be incorporated into a neuromorphic device. In this paper we present the overall strategy and focus on the different building blocks of our studies: (i) the experimental characterization and modeling of "finite size networks" which represent the smallest and most general self-organized circuits capable of generating spontaneous collective dynamics; (ii) the induction of lesions in neuronal networks and the whole brain preparation with special attention on the impact on the functional organization of the circuits; (iii) the first production of a neuromorphic chip able to implement a real-time model of neuronal networks. A dynamical characterization of the finite size circuits with single cell resolution is provided. A neural network model based on Izhikevich neurons was able to replicate the experimental observations. Changes in the dynamics of the neuronal circuits induced by optical and ischemic lesions are presented respectively for in vitro neuronal networks and for a whole brain preparation. Finally the implementation of a neuromorphic chip reproducing the network dynamics in quasi-real time (10 ns precision) is presented.
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bonifazi
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Difato
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Massobrio
authors.forename: Gian L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Breschi
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pasquale
authors.forename: Timothée
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Levi
authors.forename: Miri
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goldin
authors.forename: Yannick
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bornat
authors.forename: Mariateresa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tedesco
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bisio
authors.forename: Sivan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanner
authors.forename: Ronit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Galron
authors.forename: Jacopo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tessadori
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taverna
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chiappalone
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D062207:Brain-Computer Interfaces; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: In vitro modular networks; hardware spiking neural network; in silico neuronal circuit; lesioned circuits; whole brain