Chronic, multi-contact, neural interface for deep brain stimulation

Recent clinical studies show deep brain stimulation (DBS) as a promising therapy for the chronic treatment of major depression. Although an increasing number of studies have shown the clinical benefits of DBS in patients with major depressive disorder, little is known about the underlying mechanisms by which the treatment works. The neural interface described here consists of two multi-contact, polymer-based, microelectrode arrays that were specially-designed and fabricated. The first is for stimulation of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the second is for recording local field potentials (LFPs) and event related potentials (ERPs) in the basolateral amygdala (BLA). Unlike conventional metal wire stimulating arrays, this stimulating array offers 144 spatial configurations, both monopolar and bipolar. We present here preliminary results involving stimulation of various contact points spanning the mPFC, with simultaneous recording from multiple contacts across the temporal lobe.