Grant: Collaborative Health Research Projects (NSERC partnered)

The proposed 3-year research project relates to the rapid convergence of Fiber optics, Wireless technology, and Neurological sciences to the study of brain activity. The project aims to combine the complementary expertise of physics, neurobiology, and electrical engineering of three leading research labs to develop a novel minimally-invasive, wireless, multimodal brain microprobe technology that will maximize the amount of brain activity, neurochemistry, cell signaling and ionic fluctuations acquired, with high temporal resolution, from freely behaving animals while minimizing significantly the size of the implant. The project involves experienced researchers in natural and health sciences, and a Canadian technology user organization. The project will accelerate ground breaking research towards new treatments for brain diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders and, chronic pain,driven mainly by age-related neurological disorders in an ageing population, by decreasing the cost and time of preclinical studies