UCLA-developed soft brain probe could be a boon for depression research

Key takeawaysUCLA chemists ’ new probe is outfitted with biosensors designed to track specific neurotransmitters like serotonin.The probe is flexible enough to monitor the brains of research subjects as they move and perform everyday activities.The ability to continuously measure neurotransmitters would improve our understanding of how these chemicals affect psychological states.Anyone familiar with antidepressants like Prozac or Wellbutrin knows that these drugs boost levels of neurotransmitters in the brain like serotonin and dopamine, which are known to play an important role in mood and behavior.It might come as a surprise, then, that scientists still have very little data about the specific relationship between neurotransmitters — chemicals that relay messages from one brain cell to others — and our psychological states. Simply put, monitoring fluctuations of these neurochemicals in living brains has proved a persistent challenge.Now, for the first time, UCLA scientists have attached nanoscale biochemical sensors, which are tuned to identify specific neurotransmitters, to a soft, implantable brain probe in order to continuously monitor these chemicals in real time. The new brain probe,described in a paper published in ACS Sensors, would allow scientists to track neurotransmitters in laboratory animals — and, ultimately, humans — during their day-to-day activities.The ability to continuously measure neurotransmitters in high resolution over long periods would pr...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news