Magnetoelectric ‘Spin’ on Stimulating the Brain

Abstract

Aim: The in vivo study on imprinting control region mice aims to show that magnetoelectric nanoparticles may directly couple the intrinsic neural activity-induced electric fields with external magnetic fields. Methods: Approximately 10 µg of CoFe₂O₄–BaTiO₃ 30-nm nanoparticles have been intravenously administrated through a tail vein and forced to cross the blood–brain barrier via a d.c. field gradient of 3000 Oe/cm. A surgically attached two-channel electroencephalography headmount has directly measured the modulation of intrinsic electric waveforms by an external a.c. 100-Oe magnetic field in a frequency range of 0–20 Hz. Results: The modulated signal has reached the strength comparable to that due the regular neural activity. Conclusion: The study opens a pathway to use multifunctional nanoparticles to control intrinsic fields deep in the brain.

Keywords::

• magnetoelectric nanoparticles
• nanoengineering the brain
• noninvasive brain stimulation

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Horatiu Venerian for his continuous support during animal studies and Erasmo Perera for preparing brain sections.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors acknowledge partial financial support from National Science Foundation (NSF) awards #ECCS-1408063 and IIP-1237818, NIH DA #R01DA034547-01 and Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA) under contract #H94003–09–2–0904. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.

Additional information

Funding

The authors acknowledge partial financial support from National Science Foundation (NSF) awards #ECCS-1408063 and IIP-1237818, NIH DA #R01DA034547-01 and Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA) under contract #H94003–09–2–0904. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.