DishBrain/Cortical Labs
Researchers from Cortical Labs have tested the effect of an epilepsy drug on a laboratory-grown system for the first time brain-computer.
Under the influence of the drug, neurons grown by Cortical Labs and connected to a computer not only demonstrated changes in brain activity, but also unexpected behavior in the process of information processing. Scientists emphasize that this is a significant breakthrough in the study of neurological conditions and possible effective treatments.
«This breakthrough is an important step forward not only in the way we study and understand diseases, but also in the drugs designed to treat the neural processes associated with them and disrupted by diseases. For the first time, together with some of the world’s most prominent researchers in their fields, we were able to demonstrate that the information processes in the Petri dish disrupted by the disease can be restored with a drug developed specifically for its treatment», — notes Chief Scientist at Cortical Labs Brett Kagan.
Biological system brain-computer The CL1 is a laboratory-grown human neuron on a silicon substrate and placed in a special housing for life support. Together, these neurons form something similar to a classic server. The neurons form networks and in response to stimuli, process this information and react in real time, rerouting or forming new connections in a way that optimizes cell efficiency and health.
Neurons are connected to a computer that plays a simplified version of Pong. This allows researchers to test neuronal information processing and record changes in real time. Previous studies have demonstrated that this brain-computer platform learns by reacting to game outcomes, processing information, and improving connections between neurons to improve performance.
Using the CL1 platform, which hosts the DishBrain system, the researchers induced hyperactive glutamatergic dysregulation in human pluripotent stem cells, where an imbalance of the neurotransmitter glutamate overstimulated the cells and led to the appearance of defective neurons similar to those seen in epilepsy. After 21 days of hyperactive glutamatergic dysregulation, the following drugs were tested on the neurons phenytoin, perampanel, and carbamazepine.
Scientists observed how each drug changes the behavior of neurons in real time. The researchers found that carbamazepine at a concentration of 200 micromoles significantly affected the reactions, self-regulation, and adaptation of neurons.
At this high dose, carbamazepine significantly improved the nervous system’s ability to play the game of Pong. Although all three drugs reduced excessive neuronal activity — epileptic spikes — only carbamazepine improved the network’s functioning toward goal-directed behavior. And some neural networks became more stable and organized as a result of treatment.
The systems also allow for simultaneous testing of experimental drugs and treatments, as the stem cells in each CL1 box can be grown to produce a similar cell diversity or manipulated to represent different models of neurological disease for drug testing. This not only eliminates the need for animal testing, but also essentially allows experimental treatments to be tested on the human neural network — without human intervention.
Although this system is not as complex as the human brain, and the medical effect is focused only on glutamatergic neurons, the work reveals a key obstacle to improving the effectiveness of drugs and treatments — that the neural functional endpoints that doctors commonly rely on to determine treatment effectiveness may not be optimal.
The results of the study are published in the journal Communications Biology
Source: NewAtlas