The therapeutic potential of embryonic stem cells and neural stem cells are immense. Their regenerative potential has made them the ideal candidates for neural tissue engineering, where the marriage of neural stem cells and engineered scaffold has become a promising research direction for treating brain injuries and degenerative diseases. It is important to understand the interaction between stem cells and environmental stimuli in order to facilitate and direct their growth and differentiations. Most of the current findings indicate that it is difficult to direct stem cells to differentiate into functional neurons. It is even more difficult for the implanted cells to form appropriate functional connections with the host network. Our lab is systematically studying the effect of surface and electrical cues on stem cell growth, differentiation and functional integration.