Tohoku University’s study reveals that manipulating astrocytes in mice’s brains impacts memory retention. Acidifying astrocytes…
Browsing: Optogenetics
Optogenetics is an innovative technique in neuroscience that uses light to control cells within living tissue, typically neurons, that have been genetically modified to express light-sensitive ion channels. Developed in the early 2000s, this method involves the use of opsins, which are light-sensitive proteins originally derived from algae and bacteria. By introducing genes encoding these opsins into specific neurons in the brain, scientists can precisely control the activity of these neurons by shining light of specific wavelengths, typically using fiber optics or LEDs. This enables researchers to activate or inhibit neurons with unprecedented precision, helping to unravel the complex functions of various brain regions and the neural circuits that underlie behavior. Optogenetics has significantly advanced our understanding of how specific brain functions contribute to behaviors, neurological disorders, and psychiatric conditions, offering potential pathways for developing new therapies.
Researchers identify how brain circuits in mice amplify sensory prediction errors through a unique interaction…
A study on Drosophila reveals that descending neurons (DNs) responsible for behaviors form complex, behavior-specific…
Scientists have identified a group of brain cells in mice that facilitate their ability to…
A new high-speed imaging technique has allowed researchers to capture the fast movements of light-sensitive…
First optogenetics-based study of unrestricted social interactions within groups of animals. Northwestern University researchers are…
Yale scientists used laser light to gain access to long-lived sound waves in crystalline solids…
Using a technique that relies on a new type of light-sensitive protein, researchers have devised…
Researchers from MIT and Stanford have developed a way to label neurons when they become…
For the first time, neurobiologists show that contact points between specific neuron types are clustered…
In a newly published study, MIT neuroscientists reveal how they identified a brain region that…
Neuroscientists from MIT have now identified a brain circuit that processes the “when” and “where”…
Neuroscientists from Brown University and Central Michigan University are working to make optogenetics even more…
A newly published study details how neuroscientists from MIT identified a neural circuit that controls…
Using optogenetics, neuroscientists from MIT have provided the first evidence that directly links FD neurons…
By using optogenetics to trigger REM sleep in mice, a team of researchers from MIT…
New nanotechnology funded by DARPA’s RE-NET program and developed by researchers at the University of…
Neuroscientists from MIT have identified the brain circuit that controls how memories become linked with…