optogenetics, neuroscience

Researchers have selectively activated a specific neural pathway to manipulate a primate’s behavior.

Scientists engineer a feedback loop to fine-tune neuron activity with optogenetics.

Researchers uncover the first light-controlled negative-ion channels in algae, and they are fast.

Micromanaging neuronal behavior with optogenetics

Scientists uncover the neurons in the mouse brain responsible for linking the sight of a looming object to scared behavior.

Researchers use chemicals to manipulate the behavior of mice.

A study shows that the hippocampus selects which information to send, and where, during different behaviors.

Researchers develop a technique to trigger neural activity in culture using light to heat gold nanoparticles.

Scientists have defined mouse neurons responsible for excessive food consumption at an unprecedented level of detail. 

Assistant Professor, Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Caltech. Age: 33

A light-inducible optogenetic implant in mice, powered by EEG, responds to a human participant’s mental state.

Scientists use optogenetics to swap out negative memories for positive ones—and vice versa—in mice.

Scientists devise a precision-targeted system for training, tracking, and tweaking fruit fly social behavior.

Researchers have created a brain-wide map detailing links between sets of activated neurons and behaviors in fruit fly larvae.

From determining structures to figuring out functions, brain-mapping scientists are applying new technologies to understand the hub of the central nervous system.

An issue devoted to the latest research on how smells lead to actions

The modern technique of optogenetics stimulates the complex act of smelling with a simple flash of light.

Stimulating brain cells with light reveals the dysfunctional circuitry that causes obsessive-compulsive disorder.

A strategy to transmit signals to retinal nerve cells may show promise as a step toward alternative retinal prosthesis design.

Neurons engineered to light up when they fire could help researchers study more precisely how the brain works.