Rummi Ganguly

Undergraduate Research Symposium Abstract

FINAL COPY
Perineuronal nets (PNNs) are a matrix of proteins that surround nerve cells
and reinforce the most often used synaptic connections between neurons,
essentially hardwiring neural connections made as a child into permanent
pathways that respond to specific stimuli. By dissolving these PNNs, we
recreate the plasticity characteristic of a young developing brain, granting us
the ability to rewire the brain with respect to any stimulus. In this study, we
are looking at PNNs within the vestibular system the sensory system that
maintains images on the fovea during movement by sensing head
accelerations. Hair cells within the semicircular canals of the vestibular
system register head accelerations and then send reflex signals through
vestibular afferent nerve endings to extra-ocular eye muscles that drive eye
movements. This vestibular ocular reflex aids the maintenance of stability of
images on the retina. As a therapy for vestibular loss, our lab has developed
a vestibular prosthesis that electrically stimulates the afferent nerve endings
of the vestibular system, thereby simulating a natural vestibular response to
movement. This electrical stimulation, however, can spread to untargeted as
well as targeted vestibular afferents and cause inaccurate eye movements
as a result. By dissolving the PNNs in the vestibular nuclei and then allowing
them to regrow during a period of adaptation, we hope to suppress
inappropriate eye movements in response to our prosthesis electrical
stimulation. If our lab can prove that electrically elicited eye-movements
become more accurate after the dissolving and guided re-growing of PNNs,
we can show that it is possible to restore plasticity to the brain and shape its
neural connections through controlled electrical stimulation to the target
system. By extension, this will ascertain if it is possible to use this method to
re-wire a physiological system to accept prosthetic stimulation in place of a
non-functioning system.