Precise manipulation of neural activity is a highly sought-after intervention strategy for a variety of brain disorders. However, this is always a trade-off between resolution and invasiveness. Using

tissue-integrated ultraflexible electrodes, we are developing high-resolution, chronically stable microstimulation to repeatedly modulate a small groups of neurons. We hope to use this technology to develop novel treatment strategies that improve functional or tissue outcome for neurological disorders.  

The brain is densely vascularized, and the blood flow is tightly controlled by neural activity. This neurovascular interaction is very important in both normal and abnormal brain states. By combining optical imaging and electrical recording in the same brain region, we are able to simultaneously measure and spatially resolve neural and hemodynamic activities, and to longitudinally track both activities in awake animals at high resolutions. These technical strength enables many opportunities to investigate neurovascular interactions in previously unattainable regimes.  

One major challenges of neurodegenerative diseases is the lack of early-stage biomarkers for diagnosis before clinical symptoms and irreversible brain damages. We want to understand when, where and how the functional connectivity is impaired during the disease development. This knowledge can be used to predict and stage the full spectrum of the diseases from preclinical risk to clinical symptoms, and open a crucial window of opportunity for individualized, disease-modifying intervention strategies.  

Brain disorders give rise to aberrant patterns of activity within the complex neural circuits, but the exact nature of these abnormal patterns is often unknown. We are developing a new type of research tool for high-throughput, detailed and long-term neural measurements in behaving mice. We hope to enable circuit-oriented research of neuropsychiatric diseases using rodent disease models, and to catalyze the discovery of new therapeutic targets for a variety of disorders.