Neural Oscillations Observed in Brain Organoids

Researchers at the Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have developed brain organoids that show organized waves of activity similar to those found in living human brains. Their study was published today in Nature Neuroscience. 

“This work demonstrates that we can make organoids that resemble real human brain tissue and can be used to accurately replicate certain features of human brain function and disease,” said senior author Bennett Novitch.

After producing a batch of brain organoids derived from the skin cells of healthy people, the team used two different approaches to study the patterns of electrical activity inside them—one involved inserting a probe into each organoid to measure brain activity, the other watching the brain cells in action under a microscope.

Next, the team developed brain organoids using cells from people with Rett syndrome, a genetic disorder associated with learning delays, repetitive movements, and seizures. While the organoids appeared normal in structure and organization, their neural oscillations were abnormal: They lacked the variety of oscillations demonstrated in the non-Rett organoids. Instead, the Rett organoids had fast, disorganized activity like what clinicians see in EEGs of people with Rett syndrome and related disorders.

When the scientists treated the Rett organoids with an experimental drug called Pifithrin-alpha, the seizure-associated activity patterns disappeared, and the organoids’ neural activity became more normal.