New study develops a novel method to control neurons with light which may in the future help turn off pain receptors or lessen the effects of severe neurological disorders.

‘Optogenetics is a biological procedure that uses light to turn particular neuron groups in the brain on or off which may help researchers to restore movement in case of paralysis or to turn off the areas of the spine or brain that cause pain, eliminating the need for and the increasing dependence on opioids and other painkillers.’
Read More..

"We're making these tools to understand how different parts of the brain work," Gutruf said. "The advantage with optogenetics is that you have cell specificity: You can target specific groups of neurons and investigate their function and relation in the context of the whole brain."Read More..





In optogenetics, researchers load specific neurons with proteins called opsins, which convert light to electrical potentials that make up the function of a neuron. When a researcher shines a light on an area of the brain, it activates only the opsin-loaded neurons.
The first iterations of optogenetics involved sending light to the brain through optical fibers, which meant that test subjects were physically tethered to a control station. Researchers went on to develop a battery-free technique using wireless electronics, which meant subjects could move freely.
But these devices still came with their own limitations they were bulky and often attached visibly outside the skull, they didn't allow for precise control of the light's frequency or intensity, and they could only stimulate one area of the brain at a time.
Taking More Control and Less Space
Advertisements
The ability to control the light's intensity is critical because it allows researchers to control exactly how much of the brain the light is affecting the brighter the light, the farther it will reach. Besides, controlling the light's intensity means controlling the heat generated by the light sources, and avoiding the accidental activation of neurons that are activated by heat.
Advertisements
"This system has two antennas in one enclosure, which we switch the signal back and forth very rapidly so we can power the implant at any orientation," Gutruf said. "In the future, this technique could provide battery-free implants that provide uninterrupted stimulation without the need to remove or replace the device, resulting in less invasive procedures than a current pacemaker or stimulation techniques."
Devices are implanted with a simple surgical procedure similar to surgeries in which humans are fitted with neurostimulators, or "brain pacemakers." They cause no adverse effects to subjects, and their functionality doesn't degrade in the body over time. This could have implications for medical devices like pacemakers, which currently need to be replaced every five to 15 years.
The paper also demonstrated that animals implanted with these devices could be safely imaged with computed tomography, or CT, and magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, which allow for advanced insights into clinically relevant parameters such as the state of bone and tissue and the placement of the device.
Source-Eurekalert