At the system level neuroscience is trying to understand how neural circuits work in learning, memory, multisensory integration, motor coordination and how the electrochemical function of these circuits is compromised in the case of disease. Diseases that involve the nervous system are highly complex and mostly not well understood. The Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (GBD 2010), estimated that a substantial proportion of the world’s disease burden came from mental, neurological and substance use disorders. We need new tools and methods at the system level to effectively tackle these conditions and to better elucidate brain function and disease.

One such tool is a novel cognitive computing platform, IBM's TrueNorth chip, that enables the use of deep learning techniques in an ultra-low power environment. We have used deep learning with a convolutional neural network (CNN) and TrueNorth technologies for real-time analysis of brain-activity data at the point of sensing. This approach has the potential to create true closed-loop insights (analytics) and therapies for next generation of wearable and implantable devices at the intersection of neurobiology and artificial intelligence.

Neurotransmitters are small proteins secreted between neurons to facilitate neural communication. These compounds are key to information processing during behavior. However, until recently, this chemical communication had not been characterized because biosensors suitable to monitor sub-second chemical events in micron dimensions were unavailable. Cyclic voltammetry at carbon-fiber microelectrodes provides measurements with sub-second time resolution and has been used to examine the dynamics of neurotransmitter concentrations. To enhance the sensitivity and the selectivity of these measurements, we have developed polymeric coatings for bare carbon electrodes. Dopamine, serotonin and adenosine are neurotransmitters that were measured with this methodology.

Another tool that we have developed is a novel nanoscale electrode array with superior sensitivity and improved spatial resolution which can be used in the future to gain improved understanding of dopamine dysregulation. We report on the scalable fabrication of dopamine neurochemical probes of a nanostructured glassy carbon that is smaller than any existing dopamine sensor and arrays of more than 6000 nanorod probes. Compared with a flat glassy carbon surface, the nanostructured glassy carbon nanorods provide about 7X higher signal per unit area (current density) for dopamine sensing. The glassy carbon nanorods were fabricated by pyrolysis of a lithographically defined polymeric nanostructure with an industry standard semiconductor fabrication infrastructure. The scalable fabrication strategy offers the potential to integrate these nanoscale dopamine rods with an integrated circuit control system, with other sensors and with different modalities of neural activation.