Figure 6.

Exploiting “Biological Multiplexing” in Living Electrodes. More sophisticated living electrodes may be developed to further exploit so-called biological multiplexing. By fabricating the constructs in vitro using microprinting and micropatterning techniques, specific synaptic architectures can be achieved to yield certain fine-grained signal manipulations linking the construct to the brain. (A) In the simplest form, “channel select” bundles of axons can transmit signals to select which other bundles transmit signals into the brain, and which are silenced. (B) Multiple channels that converge on to one final common output can likewise be toggled by the “channel select” in a biological instantiation that most resembles the kind of multiplexing used in telecommunications. (C) Likewise, a single input channel can be selected and diverted to one or more parallel outputs to “demultiplex” that signal.