Biomedical subjects

Sam Musallam

Publications and source records attributed to Sam Musallam.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

A floating metal microelectrode array for chronic implantation.

Implantation of multi-electrode arrays is becoming increasingly more prevalent within the neuroscience research community and has become important for clinical applications. Many of these studies have been directed towards the development of sensory and motor prosthesis. Here, we present a multi-electrode system made from biocompatible material that is electrically and mechanically stable, and employs design features allowing flexibility in the geometric layout and length of the individual electrodes within the array. We also employ recent advances in laser machining of thin ceramic substrates, application of ultra-fine line gold conductors to ceramic, fabrication of extremely flexible cables, and fine wire management techniques associated with juxtaposing metal microelectrodes within a few hundred microns of each other in the development of a floating multi-electrode array (FMA). We implanted the FMA in rats and show that the FMA is capable of recording both spikes and local field potentials.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Selecting the signals for a brain-machine interface.

Brain-machine interfaces are being developed to assist paralyzed patients by enabling them to operate machines with recordings of their own neural activity. Recent studies show that motor parameters, such as hand trajectory, and cognitive parameters, such as the goal and predicted value of an action, can be decoded from the recorded activity to provide control signals. Neural prosthetics that use simultaneously a variety of cognitive and motor signals can maximize the ability of patients to communicate and interact with the outside world. Although most studies have recorded electroencephalograms or spike activity, recent research shows that local field potentials (LFPs) offer a promising additional signal. The decode performances of LFPs and spike signals are comparable and, because LFP recordings are more long lasting, they might help to increase the lifetime of the prosthetics.

Action Potentials↗

PubMed2002

Asymmetric integration recorded from vestibular-only cells in response to position transients.

Angular and translational accelerations excite the semicircular canals and otolith organs, respectively. While canal afferents approximately encode head angular velocity due to the biomechanical integration performed by the canals, otolith signals have been found to approximate head translational acceleration. Because central vestibular pathways require velocity and position signals for their operation, the question has been raised as to how the integration of the otolith signals is accomplished. We recorded responses from 62 vestibular-only neurons in the vestibular nucleus of two monkeys to position transients in the naso-occipital and interaural orientations and varying directions in between. Responses to the transients were directionally asymmetric; one direction elicited a response that approximated the integral of the acceleration of the stimulus. In the opposite direction, the cells simply encoded the acceleration of the motion. We present a model that suggests that a neural integrator is not needed. Instead a neuron with a long membrane time constant and an excitatory postsynaptic potential duration that increases with the firing rate of the presynaptic cell can emulate the observed behavior.

Acceleration↗