Shining a light on how neuroscientists can control our brains

Shining a light on how neuroscientists can control our brains

Thursday 21 July 2016 Credit Paula Castro In 1999, neuroscientist Gero Miesenböck dreamed of using light to expose the brain’s inner workings. Two years later, he invented optogenetics, a technique that fulfils this goal: by genetically engineering cells to contain proteins that make them light-responsive, Miesenböck found he could shine light at the brain and trigger electrical activity in those cells. This technique gave scientists the tools to activate and control specific cell populations in the brain, for the first time. For example, Miesenböck, who directs the Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour at the University of Oxford, first used optogenetics to activate courtship responses in fruit flies, and even make headless flies take flight – groundbreaking experiments that allowed him to examine, in unprecedented detail, how neurons drive behaviour.…


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