Nanomaterial-enabled neural stimulation

• Main Authors: Yongchen eWang, Liang eGuo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2016-03-01
• Series: Frontiers in Neuroscience
• Subjects: Nanotechnology; nanomaterial; Neural Stimulation; noninvasive; Non-contact
• Online Access: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnins.2016.00069/full

Neural stimulation is a critical technique in treating neurological diseases and investigating brain functions. Traditional electrical stimulation uses electrodes to directly create intervening electric fields in the immediate vicinity of neural tissues. Second-generation stimulation techniques directly use light, magnetic fields or ultrasound in a non-contact manner. An emerging generation of non- or minimally invasive neural stimulation techniques is enabled by nanotechnology to achieve a high spatial resolution and cell-type specificity. In these techniques, a nanomaterial converts a remotely transmitted primary stimulus such as a light, magnetic or ultrasonic signal to a localized secondary stimulus such as an electric field or heat to stimulate neurons. The ease of surface modification and bio-conjugation of nanomaterials facilitates cell-type-specific targeting, designated placement and highly localized membrane activation. This review focuses on nanomaterial-enabled neural stimulation techniques primarily involving opto-electric, opto-thermal, magneto-electric, magneto-thermal and acousto-electric transduction mechanisms. Stimulation techniques based on other possible transduction schemes and general consideration for these emerging neurotechnologies are also discussed.