AUTHOR=Jerome Jason , Heck Detlef H.

TITLE=The Age of Enlightenment: Evolving Opportunities in Brain Research Through Optical Manipulation of Neuronal Activity

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience

VOLUME=5

YEAR=2011

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/systems-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnsys.2011.00095

DOI=10.3389/fnsys.2011.00095

ISSN=1662-5137

ABSTRACT=<p>Optical manipulation of neuronal activity has rapidly developed into the most powerful and widely used approach to study mechanisms related to neuronal connectivity over a range of scales. Since the early use of single site uncaging to map network connectivity, rapid technological development of light modulation techniques has added important new options, such as fast scanning photostimulation, massively parallel control of light stimuli, holographic uncaging, and two-photon stimulation techniques. Exciting new developments in optogenetics complement neurotransmitter uncaging techniques by providing cell-type specificity and <italic>in vivo</italic> usability, providing optical access to the neural substrates of behavior. Here we review the rapid evolution of methods for the optical manipulation of neuronal activity, emphasizing crucial recent developments.</p>