Neuroimplants and the Glial Scar: What Makes the Brain-Computer Link Work?

Neuroimplants are likely major technological breakthroughs of the next decade with the potential for unprecedented social impact. In addition to attractive and miracle-looking possibilities, the major obstacle for the industry is complicated, unpredictable, and unfavorable side effects due to tissue damage, biocompatibility limitations, and foreign body response at the brain-implant interface. Luckily, one major barrier preventing the connection of the neuroimplant to brain cells-the glial scar-has been studied previously for its role in brain trauma.

Perineuronal Net Microscopy: From Brain Pathology to Artificial Intelligence.

Perineuronal nets (PNN) are a special highly structured type of extracellular matrix encapsulating synapses on large populations of CNS neurons. PNN undergo structural changes in schizophrenia, epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, post-traumatic conditions, and some other brain disorders. The functional role of the PNN microstructure in brain pathologies has remained largely unstudied until recently.