Impact of a chemical perturbation on the functional traits of living neuronal networks in a model for Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the process of network degeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is still limited. However, a key agent associated to the disease is the protein Tau, whose malfunction is considered to cause neurodegeneration and death. In the present work we investigated for evidences of this malicious role of Tau using in vitro neuronal cultures. We analyzed recordings of spontaneous activity with and without Tau along different days in vitro to compare a healthy culture and one in which Tau protein was injected. The comparison was made through a set of complex networks descriptors. The results indicate that the Tau cultures shape a highly integrated network with a lot of neuronal activity, i.e., abnormally too active as compared to controls. The behaviour of Tau cultures leads to incorrect coding of information, as occurs in an Alzheimer's-affected brains, evidencing the involvement of the Tau protein in this disease