  Multi-electrode arrays serve to record electrical signals of many neurons in
the brain simultaneously. For most of the past century, electrodes that
penetrate brain tissue have had exactly one shape: a straight needle. Certainly
this was a good starting choice at the time, but there is no reason to think
that a straight line would be the optimal shape in all Neuroscience
applications. Here I argue that, in fact, a wide variety of curved shapes is
equally practical: all possible helices. I discuss the manufacture and
manipulation of such devices, and illustrate a few use cases where they will
likely outperform conventional needles. With some collective action from the
research community, curved arrays could be manufactured and distributed at low
cost.
