applied sciences Review A Review of Neurotransmitters Sensing Methods for Neuro-Engineering Research Shimwe Dominique Niyonambaza 1,2, Praveen Kumar 1, Paul Xing 3, Jessy Mathault 1, Paul De Koninck 1,4, Elodie Boisselier 2,5 , Mounir Boukadoum 6 and Amine Miled 1,* 1 LABioTRON Bioeng. Research Laboratory, ECE Dept. Université Laval, Québec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada;
[email protected] (S.D.N.);
[email protected] (P.K.);
[email protected] (J.M.);
[email protected] (P.D.K.) 2 CUO-Recherche, Hôpital du Saint-Sacrement, Québec City, QC G3K 1A3, Canada;
[email protected] 3 Neurosciences Dept. University of Montreal, Montreal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada;
[email protected] 4 CERVO Brain Research Center, Québec City, QC G1J 2G3, Canada 5 Ophthalmology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Québec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada 6 CoFaMic, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC H2L 2C4, Canada;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +1-(418)-656-2131 (ext. 8966) Received: 1 May 2019; Accepted: 11 October 2019; Published: 5 November 2019 Abstract: Neurotransmitters as electrochemical signaling molecules are essential for proper brain function and their dysfunction is involved in several mental disorders. Therefore, the accurate detection and monitoring of these substances are crucial in brain studies. Neurotransmitters are present in the nervous system at very low concentrations, and they mixed with many other biochemical molecules and minerals, thus making their selective detection and measurement difficult. Although numerous techniques to do so have been proposed in the literature, neurotransmitter monitoring in the brain is still a challenge and the subject of ongoing research.