Dynamic steering of in vitro cortical neurons using field stimulation

Neurological disorders are often characterized by abnormal neuronal activity. In the case of epilepsy, this can manifest itself in the form of uncontrolled synchronous activity often in the form of bursting. Pattern steering is the ability to apply stimulation to a network that effectively changes its dynamical firing pattern. In an epileptic network, the stimulation would be used to move the seizing network from its abnormal state to a normal state. This idea is explored here in cultured networks of cortical neurons plated on microelectrode arrays. Stimulation was applied to the bath resulting in an electric field generated throughout the network. This field was verified as sub-threshold in strength using a finite element model simulation. Stimulated networks showed a significant suppression in the number of bursts and increase in the interburst interval as compared to control networks. This observed burst suppression suggests that the sub-threshold stimulating field moved networks from a state of high frequency bursting to a state of low frequency bursting.