NEPS seeks to improve the efficacy of deep brain stimulation (DBS) by studying the role of neurochemical and electrophysiological biomarkers in movement or psychiatric disorders. The team conducts neurochemical recordings in subjects undergoing stimulation using the Wireless Instantaneous Neurotransmitter Concentration Sensing System. Surgical, pharmacologic, behavioral, cognitive, and neuromodulation therapies have been used to treat distinct neurologic diseases with mixed results. Clinical improvement has been limited at least in part by an incomplete understanding of how specific changes in neural network activity affect behavior. In order to achieve significant advances in patient treatment, the cascade of biomolecular effects that accompany normal and pathological behavior need to be elucidated. 

Voltammetric biomarker identification

The neurobiology of processes that occur in the brain and associated neurological diseases are highly complex. Neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine are instrumental in the healthy functioning of the human brain. To measure these neurotransmitters accurately and safely, the Neural Engineering and Precision Surgery Lab has been involved in developing cutting-edge measuring techniques and hardware such as the Wireless Instantaneous Neurotransmitter Concentration Sensing System (WINCS) that enable research development in preclinical studies and human recordings.