Neural interfaces bridge the nervous system and the outside world by recording and stimulating neurons. Combining electrical and optical modalities in a single, hybrid neural interface system could lead to complementary and powerful new ways to explore the brain. This convergent approach has gained robust and exciting momentum recently in neuroscience and neural engineering research. Here, we review developments in the past several years aiming to achieve such hybrid electrical and optical microsystem platforms. Specifically, we cover three major categories of technological advances: transparent neuroelectrodes, optical neural fibers with electrodes, and neural probes/grids integrating electrodes and microscale light-emitting diodes. We analyze examples of these probes tailored to combine electrophysiological recording with optical imaging or optical stimulation of the brain and discuss possible directions of future innovation.

神经接口通过记录和刺激神经元来连接神经系统和外部世界。将电学和光学模式结合在一个单一的混合神经接口系统中可能会产生互补且强大的探索大脑的新方法。这种融合方法最近在神经科学和神经工程研究中获得了强劲且令人兴奋的动力。在这里，我们回顾了过去几年旨在实现这种混合电气和光学微系统平台的进展。具体来说，我们涵盖了三大类技术进步：透明神经电极、带有电极的光学神经纤维以及集成电极和微型发光二极管的神经探针/网格。我们分析了这些专门用于将电生理记录与光学成像或大脑光学刺激相结合的探针的示例，并讨论了未来创新的可能方向。