Worm trap tests brain cell activity to reveal drug effects

NeuroChip is a microfluidic electrophysiological device, which can trap the microscopic worm Caenorhadbitis elegans and record the activity of discrete neural circuits in its brain.

C. elegans have been important in providing insight into fundamental signalling processes in the nervous system and this device opens the way for a new analysis.

Prior to this development, electrophysiological recordings that resolve the activity of excitatory and inhibitory nerve cells in the nervous system of the worm required a high level of technical expertise: single microscopic (1mm long) worms have to be trapped on the end of a microelectrode in order to make the recording. As well as being small the worms are very mobile and this can be a challenging procedure.

The microfluidic invention consists of a reservoir through which worms can be fed, one after the other, into a narrow fluid-filled channel. The channel tapers at one end and this captures the worm by the front end.