Qualitative and quantitative understanding of acoustic, thermal and optogenetic neuronal excitation are key for effective neuromodulation. The Neural Intramembrane Cavitation Excitation (NICE) and Mechano-Electrical Thermal Activation (META) models, based on novel concepts for bio-acoustic and neuro-thermal interactions at the membrane level, are currently the only predictive models explaining these phenomena. Their predictions have excellent agreement to essentially the entire current body of experimental results in these emerging fields. We are also developing new analytical and numerical tools for modeling light transport and interaction in optogenetics and other complex neuro-physical interactions.
Selected Publications:
- Plaksin M., Shapira E., Kimmel E. & Shoham S., Thermal transients excite neurons through universal intramembrane mechano-electrical effects, Physical Review X., 8: 011043 (2018) doi:10.1103/PhysRevX.8.011043.
- Weissler Y., Farah N. & Shoham S., Simulation of morphologically structured photo-thermal neural stimulation, Journal of Neural Engineering, 14(5), 055001 (2017). doi: 10.1088/1741-2552/aa7805.
- Yona G, Meitav N, Kahn I & Shoham S, Realistic Numerical and Analytical Modeling of Light Scattering in Brain Tissue for Optogenetic Applications, eNeuro, 3(1), (2016). doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0059-15.2015.
- Plaksin M, Kimmel E† & Shoham S†, Cell-Type-Selective Effects of Intramembrane Cavitation as a Unifying Theoretical Framework for Ultrasonic Neuromodulation, eNeuro, 3(3), (2016). doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0136-15.2016.
- Plaksin M, Shoham S*& Kimmel E*, Intramembrane Cavitation as a Predictive Bio-Piezoelectric Mechanism for Ultrasonic Brain Stimulation, Physical Review X, 4(1), 011004 (2014). doi: 10.1103/PhysRevX.4.011004.
- Krasovitski B, Frenkel V, Shoham S & Kimmel E, Intramembrane Cavitation as a Unifying Mechanism for Ultrasound-Induced Bioeffects, PNAS, 108(8), 3258-3263(2011). doi: 10.1073/pnas.1015771108.
Neural Interface Engineering Lab 