Optogenetics News and Research

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Researchers identify serotonin receptor that could be targeted to boost memory

In a breakthrough that could one day help individuals with cognitive impairment, researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center identified a specific receptor related to the neurotransmitter serotonin that could be targeted with drugs to boost memory.

11 May 2018

Stops and starts in CIN activity may be a mechanism for controlling animals’ response to unexpected stimuli

Changing our behavior based on unexpected cues from our environment is an essential part of survival. The ability to drop what you're doing when circumstances demand it could mean the difference between avoiding a speeding vehicle or getting hit by it.

10 May 2018

Salk researchers clarify relationship of two neuron types to psychiatric and movement disorders

If 95 percent of your neighbors are chatty and outgoing, you probably know more about them than the 5 percent who are reclusive and shy.

3 May 2018

Researchers find crucial links between dopamine and avoidance behavior

Scientists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have for the first time found direct causal links between the neurotransmitter dopamine and avoidance – behavior related to pain and fear.

20 Apr 2018

Researchers use optogenetics to treat chronic pain

The finger prick from a thorn generates an immediate sensory response. In that instant, neurons at the injury site fire an electrical signal along a nerve fiber to the central nervous system. Our brain notes to avoid further encounters with thorns and the painful insult subsides.

18 Apr 2018

Researchers find the heart to be capable of arrhythmia termination after local gene therapy

The heart is capable of terminating arrhythmias itself after local gene therapy, potentially avoiding the need for patients to undergo painful electric shocks, according to a proof-of-concept study presented today at EHRA 2018, a European Society of Cardiology congress.

19 Mar 2018

Researchers create minuscule, light-powered wires to modify electrical signaling between neurons

The human brain largely remains a black box: How the network of fast-moving electrical signals turns into thought, movement and disease remains poorly understood. But it is electrical, so it can be hacked--the question is finding a precise, easy way to manipulate electrical signaling between neurons.

21 Feb 2018

Researchers use upconversion nanoparticles to understand brain functions

Scientists from the National University of Singapore have worked with an international research team to jointly develop a novel approach for deep brain stimulation.

14 Feb 2018

Neuroscientists identify 'anxiety cells' in the brain's hippocampus

Do your palms sweat when you walk down a poorly lit street at night? That feeling may be traced to the firing of newly identified "anxiety" cells deep inside your brain, according to new research from neuroscientists at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.

31 Jan 2018

Methods from optogenetics, machine learning should help improve treatment options for stroke patients

Methods from optogenetics and machine learning should help improve treatment options for stroke patients. Researchers from Heidelberg University have developed a computer vision technique to analyze the changes in motor skills that result from targeted stimulation of healthy areas of the brain.

17 Jan 2018

Pittcon Release eBook Featuring the Latest Scientific Advances

Ahead of the 2018 conference and expo, Pittcon has released an eBook that highlights the latest advances in a range of scientific disciplines. It is an ‘ultimate compilation’ of scientific articles and interviews with some of the worlds leading scientists.

From Pittcon 19 Dec 2017

Optogenetics research sheds new light on social-spatial learning

Ilana Witten didn't set out to study spatial learning. She thought she was investigating how mice socialize--but she discovered that in mouse brains, the social and the spatial are inextricably linked.

8 Dec 2017

Computer simulations provide insights into plasmonic nanovesicles for drug delivery

Imagine a microscopic gold pill that could travel to a specific location in your body and deliver a drug just where it is needed. This is the promise of plasmonic nanovesicles.

1 Dec 2017

New microscope optimized to perform studies using optogenetic techniques

A newly developed microscope is providing scientists with a greatly enhanced tool to study how neurological disorders such as epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease affect neuron communication.

29 Nov 2017

Researchers solve 3D structure of primary optogenetic tool

An international team of researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, the Institut de Biologie Structurale, and the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics has determined the 3-D structure of channelrhodopsin 2, a membrane protein widely used in optogenetics to control nerve cells with light.

28 Nov 2017

Specially tailored, ultrafast light pulses can trigger neurons to fire in different patterns

Specially tailored, ultrafast pulses of light can trigger neurons to fire and could one day help patients with light-sensitive circadian or mood problems, according to a new study in mice at the University of Illinois.

17 Nov 2017

Scientists devise new way to control single neurons using optogenetics

Researchers at MIT and Paris Descartes University have developed a new optogenetic technique that sculpts light to target individual cells bearing engineered light-sensitive molecules, so that individual neurons can be precisely stimulated.

13 Nov 2017

Molecular method reveals brain circuitry essential for alertness

Using a molecular method likely to become widely adopted by the field, researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health have discovered brain circuitry essential for alertness, or vigilance - and for brain states more generally.

3 Nov 2017

Researchers identify neural circuitry responsible for rousing the brain during sleep apnea

A common and potentially serious sleep disorder, obstructive sleep apnea affects at least one-quarter of U.S. adults and is linked to increased risk of diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease. In a paper published today in the journal Neuron, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center identified specific neural circuitry responsible for rousing the brain of mice in simulated apnea conditions.

2 Nov 2017

Penn State researcher creates step-index optical fiber for light delivery inside the body

A flexible, biodegradable optical fiber that can deliver light into the body for medical applications is the latest work of a collaboration between electrical engineers and biomaterials engineers in Penn State's Materials Research Institute.

11 Oct 2017