Highly scalable multichannel mesh electronics for stable chronic brain electrophysiology

Significance Implantable electrical probes have led to fundamental neuroscience advances and treatment of neurological diseases, yet are unable to stably track the long-term evolution of large numbers of individual neurons critical to brain functions. Here, we demonstrate a scalable scheme for highly multiplexed mesh electronics probes that overcomes this long-standing challenge. We illustrate this scheme through fabrication of 32 to 128 channel probes with macroporous neural network-like structure and flexibility comparable to the brain. Following implantation into rodent brains, we demonstrate chronic 128-channel recordings with single-neuron-level stability from multiple brain regions over 4 mo. These scalable mesh electronics probes represent an ideal platform for mapping, tracking, and modulating the single-neuron-level circuit changes associated with learning, aging, and neurodegenerative diseases.