A Radial Modulus‐Gradient Fiber for Chronic Recording and Decoding in Deep Brain

作者：Liyuan Wang, Chengqiang Tang, Zhengqi Han, Haixin Zhong, K Zhang, Ziyi Xie, Hang Guan, Peng Zhai, Hui Li, Jiaheng Liang, Yi-Xiang Wang, Jiawei Chen, Yiqing Yang, Liu Z, Mingyi Huang, Sihui Yu, Qingquan Han, Xiangran Cheng, Jinyan Li, Jiahao Shen, Xiaofei Wang, Cheng Cao, Biqin Dong, Lihua Zhang, Qi Tong, Chen Zhao, Ya Huang, B L Wang, Songlin Zhang, Peining Chen, Jue Deng, Yuguo Yu, Hongbo Yu, Huisheng Peng, Xuemei Sun · 发表于：Advanced Materials · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1002/adma.202519697 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Neuroscience and Neural Engineering、Photoreceptor and optogenetics research、Planarian Biology and Electrostimulation

Fiber electronics provide the most promising platform for the detection, modulation, and reconstruction of biosignals in the brain. However, preserving stable communication between fiber electronics and cellular-scale targets in the deep brain is critical but challenging because of their mechanical mismatch. Here, our study fills this gap by developing a radial modulus-gradient fiber (RMGF), which can bridge high-modulus conductive components (MPa) and low-modulus brain tissue (kPa) to well eliminate the mechanical mismatch at the entire neural‒device interface. The RMGF exhibits strain-insensitive electrical properties (<0.2% resistance fluctuation over 700,000 stretching‒release cycles). As an example, the RMGF enables unprecedented five-month continuous tracking of single neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of freely moving cats, and allows reconstruction of visual stimuli with the use of only three neurons, with a high correlation coefficient of 0.95, approaching the theoretical limit of the unscented Kalman filter (0.97). The results indicate that dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus neurons maintain stable tuning properties (spatial frequency sensitivity, ON/OFF characteristics, and X-cell classification) and reveal a minimal effective ensemble for efficient encoding of information within deep thalamic circuits. This RMGF represents a platform for chronic recording at the single-cell level and investigating fundamental mechanisms in the deep tissues.