Awarded in 2024
Home Department: Neurosciences
Faculty Advisors: Tirin Moore (Neurobiology) and Guosong Hong (Materials Science & Engineering)

Research Title: Patterning the brain with conductive polymers

The primary way that neurons talk to each other is by releasing chemical messages at small gaps between cells known as synapses. Another way that neurons could communicate with each other is by changing the electric field around nearby neurons. It remains unclear whether neurons use the latter method. Ethan will address this question by measuring neuronal activity while manipulating the conductivity of tissue to alter the extracellular electric field. This work has the potential to fundamentally revise our understanding of the ways that neurons communicate with each other.