Testing Blast & Blunt Trauma Forces on Complex Neural Networks In Cerebral Organoids

Understanding the brain’s response to mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBIs) remains elusive. Repetitive mTBIs, for example, concussions, have been linked to neurodegeneration, microvascular changes, and neuroinflammation which suggests that they play a larger role in the development of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). In this study we are using human cerebral organoids to model repetitive mild brain injury. As a proof of concept experiment, we used a tabletop blast chamber to expose cerebral organoids to pressure forces experienced during mTBIs and characterized the response of brain tissue following exposure. Using extracellular electrophysiology, our current data set suggests that in response to blasts exposure, there is a decrease in organoid neuronal activity. We are planning to further characterize cortical brain properties of the organoids as well as neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation. These results will help to establish an in vitro model of mTBIs using cerebral organoids.