If the animal begins cowering in a corner, he knows he is in the right place. Then he illuminates those cells with a laser. To test the possibility, Deisseroth engineers an animal with light-sensitive proteins in the brain cells lying along the suspected pathway. A disruption of one particular pathway, for instance, might cause anxiety. That in turn makes it possible to highlight the exact neural pathways involved in the various forms of psychiatric disease. Those proteins let him turn a set of cells on or off just by shining the right kind of laser beam at the cells. He inserts light-sensitive proteins into brain cells. Using optogenetics, Deisseroth can do that switching himself. Neurons switch off and on, causing signals to stop or go. But as Deisseroth pulls into his driveway he is optimistic about what tomorrow’s work could bring: Human applications, and the relief they could deliver, may not be far off.įor all its complexity, the brain in some ways is a surprisingly simple device. Today, those breakthroughs have been demonstrated in only a small number of test animals. Almost miraculously, they were immune to the cocaine high the mice left the drug den as uninterested as if they had never been exposed. When Deisseroth exposed a set of test mice to cocaine and then flipped a switch, pulsing bright yellow light into their brains, the expected rush of euphoria-the prelude to addiction-was instantly blocked. Optogenetics also shows promise for defeating drug addiction.
#Flick me light series
In a series of provocative experiments, he has already cured the symptoms of psychiatric disease in mice. Using the new science of optogenetics, scientists can activate or shut down neural pathways, altering behavior and heralding a true cure for psychiatric disease.ĭeisseroth’s technique, known broadly as optogenetics, could bring new hope to his most desperate patients.
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