Optogenetics

Optogenetics is a technique in which genes for light-sensitive proteins are introduced into specific types of brain cells in order to monitor and control their activity precisely using light signals.

Optogenetics with SOUL

The Feng lab has developed a next-generation optogenetic system for non-invasive stimulation of neurons.

May 7, 2020

Shriya Srinivasan is a PhD student in medical engineering and medical physics at the MIT Media Lab and the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

Leg nerves activated by light offer new path to restoring mobility

New optogenetic technique could help restore limb movement, treat muscle tremor.

December 26, 2018

MIT neuroscientists have discovered that making decisions, especially when choosing between two options that have both positive and negative elements, can be dramatically affected by chronic stress.

Stress can lead to risky decisions

Neuroscientists find chronic stress skews decisions toward higher-risk options.

November 16, 2017

MIT researchers have devised a way to control single neurons using optogenetics. To help achieve this, they developed an opsin, or light-sensitive protein, that can be targeted to neuron cell bodies (bottom row). Neurons in the top row have traditional opsins that are distributed throughout their axons.

Next-generation optogenetic molecules control single neurons

Focused laser beam could help scientists map connections among neurons that underlie behavior.

November 13, 2017

The green staining shows hippocampal CA1 engram cells, which store a long-term fear memory and have the light sensitive optogenetic protein channelrhodopsin-2. The blue staining shows all cells in the dorsal hippocampus brain region, including non-engram cells (blue color staining only).

MIT neuroscientists build case for new theory of memory formation

Existence of “silent engrams” suggests that existing models of memory formation should be revised.

October 23, 2017

Researchers have developed a way to label neurons when they become active, essentially providing a snapshot of their activity at a moment in time.

New tool offers snapshots of neuron activity

FLARE technique can reveal which cells respond during different tasks.

June 26, 2017

Feng Zhang named James and Patricia Poitras Professor in Neuroscience

CRISPR pioneer named to inaugural chair created by Patricia and James Poitras '63, founders of MIT’s Poitras Center for Affective Disorders Research.

January 13, 2017

MIT neuroscientist Li-Huei Tsai (left) receives the Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award from Society for Neuroscience President Hollis Cline.

Li-Huei Tsai receives Society for Neuroscience Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award

Picower Institute director awarded for her research on brain development, neurological disorders, and Alzheimer’s disease.

December 2, 2016

MIT Assistant Professor Kay Tye (left) receives the Young Investigator Award from Society for Neuroscience President Hollis Cline.

Kay Tye Receives the Society for Neuroscience Young Investigator Award

Picower Neuroscientist recognized for her work on emotional circuitry of the brain.

November 15, 2016

MIT researchers have developed a stretchy optical fiber in which they have injected multiple organic dyes (yellow, blue, and green regions). In addition to lighting up, the dyes act as a strain sensor, enabling researchers to quantify where and by how much a fiber has been stretched.

Stretchy optical fibers for implanting in the body

Biocompatible fibers could use light to stimulate cells or sense signs of disease.

October 17, 2016

MIT neuroscientists have identified neurons that are responsible for storing memories of familiar individuals. These cells, labeled green, are located in a region of the hippocampus known as the vCA1.

Scientists identify neurons devoted to social memory

Cells in the hippocampus store memories of acquaintances, a new study reports.

September 29, 2016

A new microfluidic device that replicates the neuromuscular junction — the vital connection where nerve meets muscle — contains a small cluster of neurons (green) and a single muscle fiber (red). A fluorescence image, bottom, shows the motor neurons sending out axons toward a muscle strip over a distance of about 1 millimeter.

Replicating the connection between muscles and nerves

New chip could help test drugs for ALS, other neuromuscular disorders.

August 3, 2016

Kay Tye, the Whitehead Career Development Assistant Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and a member of the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, has been awarded the 2016 Freedman Prize for Exceptional Basic Research.

Kay Tye receives Freedman Prize for Exceptional Basic Research

Neuroscientist recognized by the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation for project on neural circuits for anxiety control.

August 3, 2016

“I was always interested in biology but I felt that it’s important to get a solid training in chemistry and physics,” Feng Zhang says.

Toward a better understanding of the brain

Genome-editing pioneer Feng Zhang hopes his work will shed light on neurological disorders.

March 22, 2016

Researchers say the findings raise the possibility of developing future treatments that might reverse some of the memory loss seen in early-stage Alzheimer’s.

“Lost” memories can be found

Neuroscientists retrieve missing memories in mice with early Alzheimer’s symptoms.

March 16, 2016

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Browse By

Topics

Departments

Centers, Labs, & Programs

Schools

Topic