Extraction of murine fecal bacterial DNA for 16s rRNA sequencing in gut microbiome analysis

Brain Machine Interface (BMI) performance declines over time due to loss of signal quality. Signal decay is thought to be largely a result of neuroinflammatory processes associated device implantation and the mechanical and materials properties of the microelectrodes implanted in the cortex. Many hypotheses have been presented for causes of and mechanisms to attenuate the neuroinflammatory response to intracortical microelectrode. Due to the recent interest in the bidirectional gut-brain axis, and the role in gut health and its relationship to brain health, the Capadona lab has begun to explore the possible correlation between gut-derived microbiome and the performance of intracortical microelectrode arrays for use in BMIs.