Optogenetics News and Research

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Olympus cellSens imaging software 1.12 offers new functions

Assisting researchers in gaining a deeper understanding of dynamic biological processes, the new cellSens imaging software (version 1.12) ensures the most efficient use of valuable time-lapse experiments and the latest microscopy hardware. Building on the capabilities introduced by Olympus with its unique Graphical Experiment Manager (GEM) interface, cellSens 1.12 allows the user to truly get in touch with their sample.

From Evident Corporation - Life Sciences 28 Oct 2014

NYSCF names six promising scientists as 2014 NYSCF – Robertson Investigators

The New York Stem Cell Foundation today named six of the most promising scientists as its 2014 NYSCF – Robertson Investigators.

15 Oct 2014

Researchers use light to erase specific memories in mice

Just look into the light: not quite, but researchers at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience and Department of Psychology have used light to erase specific memories in mice, and proved a basic theory of how different parts of the brain work together to retrieve episodic memories.

10 Oct 2014

Novel technique uses genetic tool and light to map neural networks

For years, neuroscientists have been trying to develop tools that would allow them to clearly view the brain's circuitry in action-from the first moment a neuron fires to the resulting behavior in a whole organism.

22 Sep 2014

Study for better understanding of neural circuitry and dynamic mechanisms controlling memory

A study just published in the prestigious Nature Neuroscience journal by, Sylvain Williams, PhD, and his team, of the Research Centre of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and McGill University, opens the door towards better understanding of the neural circuitry and dynamic mechanisms controlling memory as well of the role of an essential element of the hippocampus - a sub-region named the subiculum.

1 Sep 2014

Brain's motor cortex can directly turn down hearing

When we want to listen carefully to someone, the first thing we do is stop talking. The second thing we do is stop moving altogether. This strategy helps us hear better by preventing unwanted sounds generated by our own movements.

28 Aug 2014

Researchers endow mice with greater touch sensitivity by striking brain rhythm

By striking up the right rhythm in the right brain region at the right time, Brown University neuroscientists report in Nature Neuroscience that they managed to endow mice with greater touch sensitivity than other mice, making hard-to-perceive vibrations suddenly more vivid to them.

25 Aug 2014

Scientists discover area of brain that could control person's motivation to exercise

Scientists at Seattle Children's Research Institute have discovered an area of the brain that could control a person's motivation to exercise and participate in other rewarding activities - potentially leading to improved treatments for depression.

21 Aug 2014

NIH-funded study explores how thalamic reticular nucleus influences consciousness

Ever wonder why it's hard to focus after a bad night's sleep? Using mice and flashes of light, scientists show that just a few nerve cells in the brain may control the switch between internal thoughts and external distractions.

16 Aug 2014

New techniques offer insight into cell-by-cell makeup of organisms

In general, our knowledge of biology-and much of science in general-is limited by our ability to actually see things. Researchers who study developmental problems and disease, in particular, are often limited by their inability to look inside an organism to figure out exactly what went wrong and when.

6 Aug 2014

New technology in field of optogenetics can remotely control specific receptors by light

Institute for Basic Science (IBS), the main organization of the International Science and Business Belt project in South Korea, has announced that a group of researchers, led by professor Won Do Heo, have developed a new technology in the field of optogenetics that can remotely control specific receptors by light.

8 Jul 2014

New evidence for painless AF treatment to be presented at FCVB 2014

The first evidence for a shockless treatment for atrial fibrillation (AF) will be presented today at Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2014 in Barcelona, Spain. T

4 Jul 2014

Light-sensitive molecule enables noninvasive silencing of neurons

Optogenetics, a technology that allows scientists to control brain activity by shining light on neurons, relies on light-sensitive proteins that can suppress or stimulate electrical signals within cells. This technique requires a light source to be implanted in the brain, where it can reach the cells to be controlled.

30 Jun 2014

Neuroscientists can control muscle movement by applying optogenetics

For the first time, MIT neuroscientists have shown they can control muscle movement by applying optogenetics - a technique that allows scientists to control neurons' electrical impulses with light - to the spinal cords of animals that are awake and alert.

27 Jun 2014

Scientists use a flash of light to erase and restore memory

Using a flash of light, scientists have inactivated and then reactivated a memory in genetically engineered rats. The study, supported by the National Institutes of Health, is the first cause-and-effect evidence that strengthened connections between neurons are the stuff of memory.

2 Jun 2014

Researchers develop imaging system that reveals neural activity throughout brains of living animals

Researchers at MIT and the University of Vienna have created an imaging system that reveals neural activity throughout the brains of living animals.

19 May 2014

Researchers identify certain neurons responsible for behavioral decisions in rats

A new paper published by OIST's Neurobiology Research Unit identifies some of the neurons responsible for behavioral decisions in rats. Using a technique that employs light to control nerve cell activity, researchers in Professor Jeff Wickens' Unit inactivated a region of the brain and showed that it caused the rats to behave more flexibly while trying to get a reward.

15 May 2014

Researchers find two types of neurons that enable spinal cord to control skilled forelimb movement

Researchers have identified two types of neurons that enable the spinal cord to control skilled forelimb movement. The first is a group of excitatory interneurons that are needed to make accurate and precise movements; the second is a group of inhibitory interneurons necessary for achieving smooth movement of the limbs.

2 May 2014

Study points to new therapeutic strategy for treating depression

A new study points to a conceptually novel therapeutic strategy for treating depression. Instead of dampening neuron firing found with stress-induced depression, researchers demonstrated for the first time that further activating these neurons opens a new avenue to mimic and promote natural resilience.

21 Apr 2014

Study identifies touch-activated molecule in skin cells

In a study published in the April 6 online edition of the journal Nature, a team of Columbia University Medical Center researchers led by Ellen Lumpkin, PhD, associate professor of somatosensory biology, solve an age-old mystery of touch: how cells just beneath the skin surface enable us to feel fine details and textures.

7 Apr 2014