title: Neuronal Inhibition under the Spotlight.
abstract: In this issue of Neuron,Lin et al. (2015) report an optical method to precisely manipulate the activity of GABAA receptors by designing a mutant receptor that binds photosensitive compounds. This allows for studying GABAA receptors in situ and represents a valuable tool to investigate how inhibition affects brain physiology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology, UCL, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mortensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology, UCL, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK. Electronic address: t.smart@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Trevor G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Smart
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology*; D062308:Optogenetics / Q000379:methods*; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000378:metabolism*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D011963:Receptors, GABA-A