Optogenetics Archives - Knowing Neurons

The Neurobiology of Curiosity

January 25, 2022January 25, 2022 Caitlin Goodpaster Curiosity, Evolution, Exploration, New Science, Novelty, Optogenetics, Subthalamic, Threat, Zona incerta

Have you ever heard the saying, “curiosity killed the cat”? While this may be true, curiosity also protects the cat. Curiosity is a highly adaptive characteristic of many animals, from… Read more

Big Ideas Learning and Memory Movement Multilingual Neuroscience Technologies Spanish

La Optogenética: Una Herramienta Iluminadora con un Futuro Brillante

August 28, 2021April 17, 2023 Jeff Olney Behavior, Deep Brain Stimulation, EEG, electroconvulsive therapy, Learning and Memory, Light, Optogenetics, Technology, Therapeutic Approaches, Vision

Artículo original: Optogenetics: An Illuminating Tool with a Bright Future , Jeff Olney Traducido por Valia Gregory Casi todo lo que hacemos requiere del cerebro de alguna manera. ¿Comer una… Read more

Multilingual Spanish

El Control Remoto del Cerebro está Ilegando: ¿Cómo lo Usaremos?

August 6, 2021April 17, 2023 Catriona Houston Brain-computer interface, nanoparticles, Optogenetics

Artículo original: Remote control of the brain is coming: how will we use it?, Catriona Houston Traducido por Jayleska Johnson ~~~ Controlar las mentes de otros a distancia ha sido durante… Read more

Joel's Pick

The rhythm of detachment: how a brain oscillation dissociates people from themselves and the world

January 17, 2021February 18, 2021 Joel Frohlich Deep Brain Stimulation, Dissociation, Ketamine, mental health, Neural Oscillations, Optogenetics, Oscillation, Pain

You don’t need to be a therapist to know common clinical terms like anxiety and depression. But terms like derealization and depersonalization remain strangely esoteric, evading popular discussions of mental… Read more

Interviews Joel's Pick

So that’s what the claustrum does!

September 24, 2020October 31, 2020 Joel Frohlich claustrum, Consciousness, Interviews, Joel's Pick, Optogenetics, Research, Sleep, sleep waves

Three years ago, I asked “What the heck is a claustrum?” In that piece, I described the mystery of this oddly shaped brain region, located just below the cerebral cortex.… Read more

Symbolic illustration of optogenetics with a strand of DNA coming out of someone's cartoon brain and being examined by a magnifying glass. Designed by Alexa Erdogan.

Big Ideas Learning and Memory Movement Neuroscience Technologies

Optogenetics: An Illuminating Tool with A Bright Future

May 27, 2020May 24, 2020 Jeff Olney Behavior, Deep Brain Stimulation, EEG, electroconvulsive therapy, Learning and Memory, Light, Optogenetics, Technology, Therapeutic Approaches, Vision

Nearly everything we do requires our brain in some way. Eating a bagel? That uses your brain. Reading this article? That’s using your brain, too. All those questionable decisions you… Read more

Big Ideas Neuroscience Technologies

Remote control of the brain is coming: how will we use it?

March 21, 2018March 21, 2018 Catriona Houston Brain-computer interface, nanoparticles, Optogenetics

ontrolling the minds of others from a distance has long been a favourite science fiction theme – but recent advances in genetics and neuroscience suggest that we might soon have that… Read more

Brain Basics Neuro News Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Neuroscience Technologies Videos

Lighting Up The Brain With Optogenetics

September 22, 2017September 22, 2017 Brainfacts.org Algae, Biomimicry, BrainFacts.org, Channelrhodopsin, Deep Brain Stimulation, Optogenetics, Parkinson's Disease, Retina, Video

Scientists studying pond scum discovered its peculiar ability to sense light, even without eyes. This discovery would eventually lead to a technique called optogenetics, one of the most powerful techniques… Read more

Big Ideas Brain Basics Consciousness

What the Heck is a Claustrum?

April 6, 2017July 10, 2017 Joel Frohlich Anatomy, Christof Koch, claustrum, Consciousness, Francis Crick, Giulio Tononi, Integrated Information Theory, Optogenetics, Rene Descartes, Self-organization

Given its subjective nature, consciousness is already a controversial topic in the world of brain science. While some neuroscientists doubt that consciousness can even be studied, others still endeavor towards… Read more

Neuro News Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders

What Loneliness Looks Like in the Brain

October 19, 2016June 30, 2017 Anita Brain, Calcium, Dorsal raphe nucleus, DRN, GFP, Green fluorescent protein, Indicator, Loneliness, Neuron, Optogenetics, Reward, Social Rebound, Ventral Tegmental Area, VTA

Consider three scenarios. A kid joins a new high school and eats lunch by herself. A recently separated man is alone for the New Year’s Eve countdown. A prisoner becomes… Read more

Brain Basics Did You Know? Neuro News SfN 2014

Getting Technical: Methods in Neuroscience

October 15, 2014March 5, 2017 Anita Biology, Brain, BRAIN Initiative, Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies, Electrophysiology, fMRI, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Genetics, Molecular, Neuroscience, Optogenetics, PET, Positron emission tomography, SfN, SfN14, Single-cell recording, Spatial, Technology, Temporal, TMS, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulaion

It is an exciting time for neuroscience. The BRAIN Initiative (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) is in the spotlight as a part of the new Presidential focus and recently… Read more

Neuro News Neuroscience Technologies

Imaging the Brain with Sculpted Light

October 16, 2013March 5, 2017 Kate Fehlhaber 2013, 3D, Brain mapping, Brain-wide 3D imaging of neuronal activity in Caenorhabditis elegans with sculpted light, C. elegans, Ganglia, GCaMP5, High speed, Human Connectome Project, Imaging, Nature Methods, nematode, Optogenetics

Perhaps the biggest goal in neuroscience is to understand how individual neurons interact with each other in both space and time. The more detailed our understanding of complex neural networks… Read more

Did You Know? Neuroscience Technologies

New Microscope Helps Neuroscientists Ask New Questions

April 12, 2013March 5, 2017 Kate Fehlhaber Biotechnology, Brain, Company, Hippocampus, Inscopix, Microscope, Microscopy, Mouse, Optogenetics, Startup, Technique

Last week, President Obama announced the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, a 10-year project to map the human brain. President Obama introduced BRAIN as a way of encouraging… Read more

Learning and Memory Movement Neuro News Neuroscience Technologies

You Are Here: Mapping The World With Neurons

April 8, 2013March 5, 2017 Ryan Jones 2013, fluoresce, Here, Hippocampus, Location, Map, Mapping, Maze, Nature Neuroscience, Neuron, Optogenetics, Place, Place Cell, Schnitzer, Stanford, World

“You are here.” It’s the phrase that you’ll find on almost any map, punctuated with the ubiquitous oversized arrow. It is the salient mark in a sea of confusing lines,… Read more

Neuroscience Technologies

What do single cell green algae have to do with the state of the art of neuroscience?

February 8, 2013March 5, 2017 Ryan Jones Algae, Boyden, Channelrhodopsin, Deisseroth, genetically targeted optical control of neural activity, Halorhodopsin, Light, Millisecond-timescale, Multimodal fast optical interrogation of neural circuitry, Neurons, Neuroscience, Optogenetics

Well, a lot actually! Green algae, or Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to be formal, are the unicellular organisms with a unique trait that has been helping make huge advances in modern neuroscience… Read more

Neuro News Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders

Stopping seizures is as simple as turning on a light (and some genetics)

February 4, 2013March 5, 2017 Kate Fehlhaber 2013, Channelrhodopsin, Epilepsy, Halorhodopsin, Ivan Soltesz, Nature Communications, On-demand optogenetic control of spontaneous seizures in temporal lobe epilepsy, Opsin, Optogenetics, Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, TLE, UCI

What if you change your mind with the flip of a light switch? Over the past decade, optogenetics has become an important component of neuroscience research. By introducing genes that… Read more