Charles Blaha's research

[Tommi]

Isn't this kind of good news for iPlant?

"The new electrode would measure levels of neurotransmitters"

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/mar/30/brain-stimulation/

[psique]

here's a recent review roughly along the same lines (okay, very
roughly - only in as much as it's about stimulating as well as
recording from DB structures targeted in PD).

Human central nervous system circuits examined through the electrodes
implanted for deep brain stimulation

"High-frequency repetitive electrical stimulation of deep brain
structures through stereotactically implanted electrodes is a well
established procedure for symptomatic treatment of patients with
Parkinson’s disease and other neurologicalnext term conditions
involving dysfunction of basal ganglia circuits. Target nuclei have
mainly three structures: the nucleus ventrointermedius externus of the
thalamus (Vim), the globus pallidus internum (GPi) and the subthalamic
nucleus (STN). Having an electrode implanted in deep brain tissue
offers a unique opportunity for carrying out previous
termneurophysiologicalnext term studies on the neural structures and
pathways that are within the area of influence of the electrode. This
possibility has been used by many researchers in the field that either
recorded the activity from, or applied stimulation to, the electrode
implanted in the target nuclei. The results of these studies have
brought improvement on our knowledge of human brain circuitry and
provided cues for understanding better the effects of deep brain
stimulation (DBS). We present here a review of the literature on the
use of DBS electrodes for externally controlled recording or
stimulation. The results reported show some of the possibilities of
this new dimension of previous termneurophysiologicalnext term studies
and are, most likely, a preliminary account of future major
interventions on human brain."

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VNP-4S033X5-4&_user=6449666&_coverDate=03%2F04%2F2008&_alid=731403808&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=6184&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=2&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=6449666&md5=1ca83c3672beb8fed25b44e89515683d