Electrical stimulation has had a profound impact on our current understanding of nervous system physiology and provided viable clinical options for addressing neurological dysfunction within the brain. Unfortunately, the brains immune suppression of indwelling microelectrodes currently presents a major roadblock in the long-term application of neural recording and stimulating devices. In some ways, brain trauma induced by penetrating microelectrodes produces similar neuropathology as debilitating brain diseases, such as Alzheimers disease (AD), while also suffering from end-stage neuron loss and tissue degeneration. To understand whether there may be any parallel mechanisms at play between brain injury from chronic microelectrode implantation and those of neurodegenerative disorder, we used two-photon microscopy to visualize the accumulation, if any, of age- and disease-associated factors around chronically implanted electrodes in both young and aged mouse models of AD. With this approach, we determined that electrode injury leads to aberrant accumulation of lipofuscin, an age-related pigment, in wild-type and AD mice alike. Furthermore, we reveal that chronic microelectrode implantation reduces the growth of pre-existing amyloid plaques while simultaneously elevating amyloid burden at the electrode-tissue interface. Lastly, we uncover novel spatial and temporal patterns of glial reactivity, axonal and myelin pathology, and neurodegeneration related to neurodegenerative disease around chronically implanted microelectrodes. This study offers multiple novel perspectives on the possible neurodegenerative mechanisms afflicting chronic brain implants, spurring new potential avenues of neuroscience investigation and design of more targeted therapies for improving neural device biocompatibility and treatment of degenerative brain disease.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.