In a recently published article, available HERE, researchers, masters and masters students in neuroengineering, as well as partners of the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience (IIN-ELS), in Macaíba (RN), analyze reactions of nervous system cells to the implantation of microelectrodes in the brains of marmosets. The study was published on January 23, 2019 in Brain Sciences, international open access journal.

The Teacher Mariana Araujo, IIN-ELS researcher and corresponding author of the article, explains that this specific project analyzed the response of one of the glial cells in the nervous system, involved in the so-called reactive gliosis, a type of encapsulation of the microelectrode, arising from the organism's reaction to a foreign body. She talks about the world's pioneering nature of this study with marmosets: “We are comparing the responses of a specific cell, the astrocyte, activated by the acute and chronic presence of microelectrodes in the brain tissue of primates. There are several studies of this type in rodents, but there were none in marmosets. In this context, this is a pioneering study, which analyzes the activation of astrocytes in these animals. It is very rare in the scientific literature to find data from primates with acute implants.”

The researcher says that a current problem when using electrodes, for example, is that the body's inflammatory reaction reduces the useful life of these devices. Mariana mentions that the major difference in the study is that it shows that this inflammatory reaction also exists in the tissue of the marmoset, a primate, and the response of its cells is probably closer to what would happen in humans. According to her, this research opens up several possibilities for the future, although at the moment it is a comparative biology study related to biocompatibility, that is, the ability of a material to be compatible with living tissue: “In order to be able to propose forms of intervention that reduce the inflammatory response and increase the useful life of these electrodes for recording brain signals, the first step is to understand how this reaction occurs. This way, it is possible to propose solutions or ways to test greater biocompatibility of these devices,” she states.

Manuela Sales, also a Professor and Researcher at IIN-ELS, emphasizes that the pioneering nature of this work adds an important piece to the understanding of neuroimmunological interactions in animals genetically close to humans: “This opens up perspectives for brain-machine interface applications or the use of longer-lasting and safer implantable brain stimulators,” she concludes.

Article title:

Astrocytic Response to Acutely- and Chronically-Implanted Microelectrode Arrays in the Marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) Brain

Team:

Carolina Kunicki, Manuela Sales It is Mariana Araujo, Researchers at the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience (IIN-ELS); Fernanda Mesquita, Post-Doctoral Student at IIN-ELS; Kim Yano It is Samuel Budoff, students of the Master's in Neuroengineering at IIN-ELS; Jhulimar Doerl, Master in Neuroengineering from IIN-ELS and PhD student at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte; Maxwell Santana, Professor at the Federal University of Western Pará.