Implantable Bioelectronics for Real-time in vivo Recordings of Enteric Neural Activity

The enteric nervous system represents a primary point of contact for a host of factors that influence bodily health and behavior. This division of the autonomic nervous system is unique in both its extensivity, with neurons distributed throughout the gastrointestinal tract from the esophagus to the rectum, and its capability for local information processing. Here, we show the construction and validation of a bioelectronic device to access neural information produced and processed in the gastrointestinal tract. We designed an implant and concurrent surgical procedure to place a neural recording device within the wall of the colon of rodents. We captured complex multi-frequency electrophysiological responses to neural stimulants and show that we can record activity in the context of mechanical activity mimicking gut motility. We also show the feasibility of utilizing this device for recording colonic activity in freely-moving animals. This work represents a step forward in devising functional bioelectronic devices for understanding the complex pathways of the gut-brain axis.