High resolution active matrix nanowire circuits enable a flexible and stretchable platform for probing neural circuits. Fabrication of such circuits includes forming an array of transistors using a semiconductor-on-insulator substrate. Electrically isolated arrays of vertically extending, electrically conductive wires are formed from a doped, electrically conductive layer within the substrate, each of the arrays of wires being electrically connected to a transistor in the array of transistors.