FUTURE-NHP aimed at the fabrication and pre-commercial testing of a new cranial device, allowing to perform neural recordings from the brain of large animals, particularly non-human primates, with a variety of customizable and interchangeable sets of multielectrode probes. During the project, different materials and construction concepts have been explored, and a variety of prototypes have been realized with different strategies, resulting in an optimized device successfully tested ex-vivo. The concept allows to easily design custom-specific applications and can be made compatible with different types of probes and recording systems, including wireless data loggers for studying neuronal activity in freely moving animals. After appropriate in-vivo testing, this device can extend the range of affordable neuroscientific questions to unconstrained behaviors, improving the flexibility and ecological validity of neurophysiological data, and contributing to make NHP fundamental research more ethically acceptable and its results of higher translational value for humans.
