Mechanism of docosahexaenoic acid in the enhancement of neuronal signalling

Microelectrode array (MEA) has attracted paramount attention from neuroscientific community to explore and understand the working principle of nervous systems and the effect of drugs on the behaviour of neurons. In this work, we attempt to explore the effect of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on the overall neuronal spike activity as well as the spontaneous activity patterns of primary cortical neurons employing MEA technology. Neocortex neurons of C57BL/6 mice were cultured on MEA for two weeks until maturation and then treated with 10 µg/ml DHA for 48 hours. Our results demonstrated that DHA supplementation enhanced the overall spike activity (454.35 spikes/sec) of the neurons compared to the non-treated control (297.01spikes/sec). This is a preliminary study to explore the changes in the electrophysiological properties of neurons in response to DHA. Our results indicated the potential use of DHA in improving neuronal signalling indicating it could be helpful in improving the diseased condition of neuronal disorders particularly in Alzheimer’s disease (AD).