060406 Fromherz

The Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Freiburg

Announcement for the next

BCCN Seminar

Prof. Dr. Peter Fromherz

Department of Membrane and Neurophysics
MPI Biochemistry
Martinsried
Germany

Neuron-Semiconductor Interfacing ? its Nature and Implementation

It is a challenge to join semiconductor chips and neuronal systems on a microscopic level with the goal to develop hybrid processors for scientific, medical and technological applications. On the biological side, we consider the three levels of ion channels, of individual nerve cells from snails and rats and of tissue from rat brain. We analyze the structure and the electrical resistance of the cell-silicon contact with luminescent dyes. To elucidate the mechanism of interfacing, we study the interaction of recombinant sodium and potassium channels with capacitors and transistors of simple silicon chips. On the basis of these results, we implement the two-way interfacing of silicon chips with individual nerve cells, with small neuronal networks and with brain tissue. CMOS chips with thousands of interfacing sites are applied to obtain time-resolved maps of for recording and stimulation on the level of single cells, of small neuronal networks and of brain tissue.

Host: PD Dr. Ulrich Egert