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FUTURE brain implants could be made of squidgy plastic. Sticking electrodes the width of human hairs into the brain is tricky, since any adverse movement of the probes can injure the brain, causing inflammation and preventing the electrodes from picking up signals. In most cases, this means they stop working after a week. So David Martin’s group from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor coated the hard metal probes with a conducting plastic surface, making them softer and less likely to damage brain tissue. When tested in guinea pigs, the plastic probes were better at sticking to brain cells, better at conducting electricity and kept working longer, the researchers report at an American Chemical Society meeting in Spokane, Washington, this week. The group hopes to make future probes entirely out of plastic or hydrogels, making them even gentler on the brain.