Our research focuses on Parkinson s diseases and other movement disorders such as dystonia and Huntington s disease. We collaborate with investigators in the UCLA School of Engineering to develop micro brain stimulation and highly sensitive chemical detection devices to study discrete brain regions in rat and mouse models of these diseases. Quantitative data obtained from MRI is correlated with 3-D visualizations of immunohistochemisry to develop data for modeling the static biomechanics and kinematics of binocular alignment, with clinical application to the diagnosis and surgery of strabismus.
Clinical application is to inner ear and balance disorders.
The implications of MEMS technologies for neuroscience are revolutionary. We now have the potential to develop arrays of microsystems, which can be tailored to the physical and temporal dimensions of individual cells. Neuroscientists can now realistically envision sensing devices that allow real-time measurements at the cellular level. Information from such sensors could be monitored, analyzed, and used as a basis of experimental or medical intervention, again at a cellular level. A new micronode technology is under development that will permit local neurological electrode potential measurement at high sampling rate.