Nano-Graphitic Carbon Materials for Neural Probe Seminar

O Abstract:

Dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) are key neurochemical compounds centrally linked to the pathology of many neurological and psychiatric disorders. The ability to monitor the dynamics of their individual and coordinated signaling is critical for neurological studies of these disorders.

Therefore, there is a critical need for a sensing platform capable of mapping chemical neuronal activities in behaving animals and with the potential for use in human subjects. In this talk, I will present the progress of my group toward realizing such a groundbreaking neural probe. I will first describe our strategy for producing a new form of nano-engineered graphitic (NG) carbon which affords unprecedented neurochemical sensing capabilities through fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV). I will conclude my talk by discussing some examples of the material research frontiers that the application of our NG carbon materials for sensing neurochemical molecules have enabled.