Precision Microfluidic Control of Neuronal Ensembles in Cultured Cortical Networks

Abstract

In vitro neuronal culture is an important research platform in cellular and network neuroscience. However, neurons cultured on a homogeneous scaffold form dense, randomly connected networks and display excessively synchronized activity; this phenomenon has limited their applications in network‐level studies, such as studies of neuronal ensembles, or coordinated activity by a group of neurons. Herein, polydimethylsiloxane‐based microfluidic devices are developed to create small neuronal networks exhibiting a hierarchically modular structure resembling the connectivity observed in the mammalian cortex. The strength of intermodular coupling is manipulated by varying the width and height of the microchannels that connect the modules. Neuronal activity recording via calcium imaging shows that the spontaneous activity in networks with smaller microchannels (2.2–5.5 µm2) has lower synchrony and exhibits a threefold variety of neuronal ensembles. Optogenetic stimulation demonstrates that a reduction in intermodular coupling enriches evoked neuronal activity patterns and that repeated stimulation induces plasticity in neuronal ensembles in these networks. These findings suggest that cell engineering technologies based on microfluidic devices enable in vitro reconstruction of the intricate dynamics of neuronal ensembles, thus providing a robust platform for studying neuronal ensembles in a well‐defined physicochemical environment.