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Optogenetics Allows Control of Spinal Circuits

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Optogenetics has been shown to control neurons — and subsequently muscle movement — when applied to the spinal cords of awake, alert animals. Neuroscientists have long studied spinal circuits in the brain in efforts to better treat spinal cord injuries. In this study, conducted by researchers at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research, optogenetics allowed exploration of the function of inhibitory interneurons. These interneurons form circuits with many other neurons in the spinal cord, and the circuits execute commands from the brain, with additional input from...Read full article

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    Published: June 2014
    Glossary
    optogenetics
    A discipline that combines optics and genetics to enable the use of light to stimulate and control cells in living tissue, typically neurons, which have been genetically modified to respond to light. Only the cells that have been modified to include light-sensitive proteins will be under control of the light. The ability to selectively target cells gives researchers precise control. Using light to control the excitation, inhibition and signaling pathways of specific cells or groups of...
    AmericasBiophotonicsBioScanchannelrhodopsin-2Light SourcesMassachusettsMcGovern Institute for Brain ResearchMITNational Science FoundationneuronsopsinsOpticsoptogeneticsResearch & Technologyspinal circuitsspinal cordsinhibitory interneuronsEmilio BizziVittorio CaggianoHuman Frontier Science Program

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