Thesis Project Form

The neuronal networks derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) opened new perspectives in the neuroscience and neuroengineering fields. The quantitative study of networks morphological and functional connectivity provides rich information and a solid baseline for future exploitation of in vitro human-derived experimental models in the field of personalized medicine.

The goal is to investigate the morphological and functional connectivity of 2D low density neuronal networks derived from hiPSCs. In particular, the aim is to record the electrophysiological activity of such cultures and subsequently to perform electrical stimulation and immunocytochemistry to evaluate signal propagation and to compare the functional and morphological connectivity. The activities involve the implementation of cell culture protocols for the realization of 2D heterogeneous models and the maintenance of such neuronal cultures on long-term. Moreover, the activities include the definition and execution of experimental protocols for the electrical stimulation of the neural networks, the acquisition, and the analysis of the electrophysiological data, and the execution of immunocytochemistry protocols.

Data acquisition platforms (3Brain)
2D neuronal cultures maintenance
Stimulation methodologies
Software tools for data analysis
Immunocytochemistry protocols