Dekel Rosenfeld | Bioelectronics at MIT

Multifunctional microelectronic fibers enable wireless modulation of gut and brain neural circuits

Thu, 22 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Unraveling connections between the brain and gut

Thu, 22 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The brain and the digestive tract are in constant communication, relaying signals that help to control feeding and other behaviors. This extensive communication network also influences our mental state and has been implicated in many neurological disorders.

MIT engineers have designed a new technology for probing those connections. Using fibers embedded with a variety of sensors, as well as light sources for optogenetic stimulation, the researchers have shown that they can control neural circuits connecting the gut and the brain, in mice.

In a new study, the researchers demonstrated that they could induce feelings of fullness or reward-seeking behavior in mice by manipulating cells of the intestine. In future work, they hope to explore some of the correlations that have been observed between digestive health and neurological conditions such as autism and Parkinson’s disease.

“The exciting thing here is that we now have technology that can drive gut function and behaviors such as feeding. More importantly, we have the ability to start accessing the crosstalk between the gut and the brain with the millisecond precision of optogenetics, and we can do it in behaving animals,” says Polina Anikeeva, the Matoula S. Salapatas Professor in Materials Science and Engineering, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences, director of the K. Lisa Yang Brain-Body Center, associate director of MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics, and a member of MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research.

Anikeeva is the senior author of the new study, which appears today in Nature Biotechnology. The paper’s lead authors are MIT graduate student Atharva Sahasrabudhe, Duke University postdoc Laura Rupprecht, MIT postdoc Sirma Orguc, and former MIT postdoc Tural Khudiyev.

Read the full story

Magnetothermal Modulation of Calcium‐Dependent Nerve Growth

Thu, 04 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Probing Neuro-Endocrine Interactions Through Remote Magnetothermal Adrenal Stimulation

Thu, 23 Jun 2022 04:52:56 +0000

Magnetothermal nanoparticle technology alleviates parkinsonian-like symptoms in mice

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Modular Integration of Hydrogel Neural Interfaces

Sat, 28 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Customizing Multifunctional Neural Interfaces through Thermal Drawing Process

Tue, 18 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Modular Integration of Hydrogel Neural Interfaces

Fri, 07 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Emerging Frontier of Peripheral Nerve and Organ Interfaces

Wed, 28 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Mechanical Way to Stimulate Neurons

Sun, 19 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In addition to responding to electrical and chemical stimuli, many of the body’s neural cells can also respond to mechanical effects, such as pressure or vibration. But these responses have been more difficult for researchers to study, because there has been no easily controllable method for inducing such mechanical stimulation of the cells. Now, researchers at MIT and elsewhere have found a new method for doing just that.

The finding might offer a step toward new kinds of therapeutic treatments, similar to electrically based neurostimulation that has been used to treat Parkinson’s disease and other conditions. Unlike those systems, which require an external wire connection, the new system would be completely contact-free after an initial injection of particles, and could be reactivated at will through an externally applied magnetic field.

The finding is reported in the journal ACS Nano, in a paper by former MIT postdoc Danijela Gregurec, Alexander Senko PhD ’19, Associate Professor Polina Anikeeva, and nine others at MIT, at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and in Spain.

Read the full story

Magnetothermal Multiplexing for Selective Remote Control of Cell Signaling

Fri, 10 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Gaseous Messenger Molecule

Mon, 06 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Nitric oxide is an important signaling molecule in the body, with a role in building nervous system connections that contribute to learning and memory. It also functions as a messenger in the cardiovascular and immune systems.

But it has been difficult for researchers to study exactly what its role is in these systems and how it functions. Because it is a gas, there has been no practical way to direct it to specific individual cells in order to observe its effects. Now, a team of scientists and engineers at MIT and elsewhere has found a way of generating the gas at precisely targeted locations inside the body, potentially opening new lines of research on this essential molecule’s effects.

The findings are reported today in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, in a paper by MIT professors Polina Anikeeva, Karthish Manthiram, and Yoel Fink; graduate student Jimin Park; postdoc Kyoungsuk Jin; and 10 others at MIT and in Taiwan, Japan, and Israel.

Read the full story

In situ electrochemical generation of nitric oxide for neuronal modulation

Mon, 29 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Magnetic Nanodiscs Enable Remote Magnetomechanical Neural Stimulation

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Magnetic Vortex Nanodiscs Enable Remote Magnetomechanical Neural Stimulation

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Hormone Release

Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Abnormal levels of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are linked to a variety of mental health disorders, including depression and PTSD. MIT researchers, including the Anikeeva group, have now devised a way to remotely control the release of these hormones from the adrenal gland using magnetic nanoparticles.

To achieve control over hormone release, Dekel Rosenfeld, an MIT-Technion postdoc in Professor Anikeeva’s group, has developed specialized magnetic nanoparticles that can be injected into the adrenal gland. When exposed to a weak magnetic field, the particles heat up slightly, activating heat-responsive channels that trigger hormone release. This technique can be used to stimulate an organ deep in the body with minimal invasiveness.

The researchers now plan to use this approach to study how hormone release affects PTSD and other disorders, and they say that eventually it could be adapted for treating such disorders. This method would offer a much less invasive alternative to potential treatments that involve implanting a medical device to electrically stimulate hormone release, which is not feasible in organs such as the adrenal glands that are soft and highly vascularized.

Read the full story

Transgene-free remote magnetothermal regulation of adrenal hormones

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000