Understanding how magnetoelectric nanoparticles influence neuronal activity is essential for the development of future brain stimulation technologies. Within the META-BRAIN project, researchers combine experimental studies and computational modelling to investigate whether magnetoelectric nanoparticles can alter spontaneous brain activity.
As part of this effort, Valentina Galletta, a PhD student from the Istituto di Elettronica e di Ingegneria dell’Informazione e delle Telecomunicazioni CNR-IEIIT), one of the research institutes of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), spent three months at fellow META-BRAIN partner Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) in Barcelona, from March to May 2026. During her stay, she participated in in vitro and in vivo experiments while also developing computational models based on the experimental studies.
Investigating magnetoelectric nanoparticle stimulation in vitro and in vivo
During her stay, Galletta worked alongside Alex Suárez, Andreu Pons, Joana Covelo, Jorge Merino and Nathalia Cancino, under the supervision of Prof. Mavi Sanchez-Vives and collaborating with Elric Zhang and the team of ETH Zurich. The goal of the experiments was to modulate slow oscillations characteristic of brain dynamics by activating nanoparticles with magnetic fields.
The team tested the effects of magnetoelectric nanoparticle-mediated stimulation under different experimental conditions, varying both the delivered stimulation and the way the nanoparticles were administered to the target tissue. The resulting electrophysiological recordings of neuronal activity showed variations in the spontaneous activity of slow oscillations, further suggesting the modulation effect of magnetoelectric nanoparticles already observed in previous tests.
Reproducing experimental conditions through computational modelling
Using experimental data, the focus shifted to reproducing the in silico (computer-based) representation of the experimental setup used in the in vivo studies, to bridge these two worlds and provide complementary information.
“It was interesting to simulate, from an in silico point of view, what happens during the in vivo experiments by reproducing the in vivo setup and translating it into a computational model”, says Galletta. “Starting from the experimental data, the in silico model is useful to quantify the electromagnetic phenomena occurring during the experiments. This aspect is difficult to achieve experimentally with a similar level of detail and may also provide a valuable tool for future studies”.
The close interaction between experimental and computational work also helped improve the realism of the models. According to Galletta, having a complete view of the research process, from the in vitro and in vivo experiments to their in silico representation, as well as working closely with the IDIBAPS team, contributed to incorporating additional levels of detail into the computational framework.
Investigating nanoparticle-mediated stimulation at the single-cell level
The research ultimately zoomed down to the single-cell level, focusing on modelling how magnetoelectric nanoparticles stimulate brain tissue at the level of individual neurons. The quantification of the electrical stimulation generated by magnetoelectric nanoparticles in the neural tissue, and how these electric fields can influence the neuronal activity at a single-cell level provides a strong support to the interpretation of experimental observations.
Reflecting on the experience, Galletta highlights the value of combining experimental and computational approaches within the same research framework.
“The possibility of experiencing this two-way approach, performing experiments and then modelling them, has been especially motivating”, she says. “It lets me observe the stimulatory effects of nanoparticles in real time and reproduce those effects with computational models, thereby describing the phenomenon from complementary perspectives and integrating them”.
Beyond the scientific work itself, the stay also provided an opportunity to collaborate closely with researchers from different disciplines and institutions involved in META-BRAIN, further strengthening knowledge exchange across the consortium.
META-BRAIN is coordinated by the Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) and composed by Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBER), Zabala Innovation, he Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) and its institutes Istituto di Elettronica e di Ingegneria dell’Informazione e delle Telecomunicazioni CNR-IEIIT) and Istituto per la Microelettronica e Microsistemi (CNR-IMM), G.TEC Medical Engineering, ETH Zurich and the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics (CING).
