Scientists have developed an “off-switch” for the brain to effectively shut down neural activity using light pulses, the Independent reported.
In 2005, Stanford scientist Karl Deisseroth discovered how to switch individual brain cells on and off by using light in a technique he dubbed “optogenetics.”
Research teams around the world have since used this technique to study brain cells, heart cells, stem cells and others regulated by electrical signals.
However, light-sensitive proteins were efficient at switching cells on but proved less effective at turning them off.
Now, after almost a decade of research, scientists have been able to shut down the neurons as well as activate them.
Deisseroth’s team has now re-engineered its light-sensitive proteins to switch cells much more adequately than before. His findings are presented in the journal Science.
Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, which funded the study, said this improved “off” switch will help researchers to better understand the brain circuits involved in behaviour, thinking and emotion.
“We’re excited about this increased light sensitivity of inhibition in part because we think it will greatly enhance work in large-brained organisms like rats and primates,” Deisseroth, a senior author of the paper and professor of bioengineering and of psychiatry and behavioural sciences said.
The new techniques rely on changing 10 of the amino acids in the optogenetic protein.
