Implantable Microelectrode Arrays for Electrophysiological Activity Detection in Cortex of Sleep Deprived Rats

In vivo studies of neural discharge activity following sleep deprivation(SD) can help us fully understand the effects of sleep deprivation at the cellular level. The MEA was fabricated using MEMS technology to measured the electrophysiological activity in rat cortex before and after SD. The experiments showed that after SD, the average amplitude of the spike increased by 32.1% from 106.6 μV to 140.8 μV. The average firing rate increased by 186.2% from 2.2 Hz to 6.2 Hz. The power of LFPs in all frequency band under 50 Hz increased after SD. The results indicated that the sleep deprivation had excitatory effects on the neurons and may further undermine the certain function of the brain, such as the ability of cognition and memory.