optogenetics

Research in mice suggests that moderating nerve activity with drugs or electrical pulses could modify tissue immune responses, curtailing the chronic pain often associated with inflammatory conditions.

Automated control of light-responsive nematode worms marks the first foray into the development of multicellular, biorobotic organisms.

After receiving an intraocular injection of the gene for a light-sensitive protein, a 58-year-old man diagnosed with the neurodegenerative eye disease retinitis pigmentosa was able to locate objects on a table using engineered goggles.

The animals adopt the emotional state of their cagemates, and the parts of the brain engaged during the process are different for pain and fear, according to a new study.

Using optogenetics, scientists have simulated the sense of smell directly within the mouse brain to investigate the nature of olfactory perception.

Strategies to make lab animals forget, remember, or experience false recollections probe how memory works, and may inspire treatments for neurological diseases.

Researchers have developed ways to manipulate neurons involved in a particular memory to make mice recall an experience or to remember something that never happened.

Flashing lights activate fly navigation neurons.

A new method helps neural stem cells form synaptic connections, thereby restoring lost brain function.

A new tool helps stem cells integrate with host neural circuitry after implantation in mice.

An implantable wireless device with microfluidic and optical components allows manipulation of individual nerve fibers in mice’s extremities.

The Albert Einstein College of Medicine neuroscientist has revealed surprising functions of the brain region, such as its role in the brain’s rewards circuits and in addiction.

Researchers devise a way to make plants’ stomata open and close more quickly.

Arabidopsis with guard cells modified by a light-activated potassium ion channel can open and close stomata more quickly, conserving water.

Advanced single-cell optogenetic tools have enabled researchers to induce a learned behavior in mice without the associated visual cue.

Researchers flipped light-sensitive proteins upside down for a new twist on optogenetics.

Meet the researchers building a thermogenetic toolbox.

By stimulating specific neurons in mouse brains, researchers demonstrate that memories from infancy are not lost, but merely difficult to access.

A new protein may allow researchers to home in on individual neurons, determining their activity minute by minute.

Researchers develop a new technique to selectively activate neurons deep in the rodent brain, taking a step toward noninvasive brain stimulation for neurological disorders.