Neuronal Cultures: Exploring Biophysics, Complex Systems, and Medicine in a Dish
Open Access
- 10 March 2023
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in Biophysica
- Vol. 3 (1), 181-202
- https://doi.org/10.3390/biophysica3010012
Abstract
Neuronal cultures are one of the most important experimental models in modern interdisciplinary neuroscience, allowing to investigate in a control environment the emergence of complex behavior from an ensemble of interconnected neurons. Here, I review the research that we have conducted at the neurophysics laboratory at the University of Barcelona over the last 15 years, describing first the neuronal cultures that we prepare and the associated tools to acquire and analyze data, to next delve into the different research projects in which we actively participated to progress in the understanding of open questions, extend neuroscience research on new paradigms, and advance the treatment of neurological disorders. I finish the review by discussing the drawbacks and limitations of neuronal cultures, particularly in the context of brain-like models and biomedicine.Keywords
Funding Information
- European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (713140, 964977)
- Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PID2019-108842GB-C21)
- Generalitat de Catalunya (2021-SGR-00450)
- “la Caixa” Foundation (LCF/PR/HR19/52160007)
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