title: Circuit-breakers: optical technologies for probing neural signals and systems.
abstract: Neuropsychiatric disorders, which arise from a combination of genetic, epigenetic and environmental influences, epitomize the challenges faced in understanding the mammalian brain. Elucidation and treatment of these diseases will benefit from understanding how specific brain cell types are interconnected and signal in neural circuits. Newly developed neuroengineering tools based on two microbial opsins, channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) and halorhodopsin (NpHR), enable the investigation of neural circuit function with cell-type-specific, temporally accurate and reversible neuromodulation. These tools could lead to the development of precise neuromodulation technologies for animal models of disease and clinical neuropsychiatry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, W083 Clark Center, 318 Campus Drive West, Stanford University, California, USA.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Alexander M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Aravanis
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adamantidis
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de Lecea
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Deisseroth
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D006801:Humans; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D009482:Neurophysiology / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D055095:Optics and Photonics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D025604:Rhodopsins, Microbial / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D025604:Rhodopsins, Microbial