Bistable current photoswitches in neurons

Posted by Neville Sanjana at 1:01 AM EST

Bi-stable neural state switches : Article : Nature Neuroscience

Another channelrhodopsin breakthrough from Deisseroth’s lab. This time light is not required to keep the channel open. Light merely triggers opening and closing behavior. Blue-shifted light opens channels and red-shifted light closes them. This looks like another potentially powerful neurotechnology for interrogating circuits and systems.

Relevant fig:

photoswitching channelrhodopsin traces

One Response to “Bistable current photoswitches in neurons”

  1. A Goldstein Says:

    Exciting! We’re giving a Wiley Prize to the scientists who discovered channelrhodopsins, so it’s awesome to see these being applied.

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