Turn on the lights!
Neuroscientists have employed an emerging technology called optogenetics to control electrical activity in a few carefully selected neurons in a set of mice. They flashed blue light on a specific neural pathway in the amygdala, and the mice began scampering freely across an open space.Philips LED business is inside of Philips lighting so it Led light is more difficult to determine whether they are meeting expectations. These findings could shine some light on neural mechanisms of the human brain, writes Carl E Schoonover and Abby Rabinowitz
Treating anxiety no longer requires pills or psychotherapy. At least,Thankfully a new form of led strip energy-efficient light bulbs have arrived that provide this desired feature. not for a certain set of bioengineered mice. In a study recently published in the journal Nature, neuroscientists turned these prey into bold explorers with the flip of a switch. The group, led by Karl Deisseroth, a psychiatrist and researcher at Stanford, employed an emerging technology called optogenetics to control electrical activity in a few carefully selected neurons.
First they engineered these neurons to be sensitive to light. Then, using implanted optical fibres, they flashed blue light on a specific neural pathway in the amygdala, a brain region involved in processing emotions. And the mice, which had been keeping to the sides of their enclosure, scampered freely across an open space.
While such tools are very far from being used or even tested in humans, scientists say optogenetics research is exciting because it gives them extraordinary control over specific brain circuits – and with it, new insights into an array of disorders, among them anxiety and Parkinson’s disease.
Mice are very different from humans, as Deisseroth acknowledged. But he added that because “the mammalian brain has striking commonalities across species,” the findings might lead to a better understanding of the neural mechanisms of human anxiety.
David Barlow, founder of the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University, cautions against pushing the analogy too far: “I am sure the investigators would agree that these complex syndromes can’t be reduced to the firing of a single small neural circuit without considering other important brain circuits, including those involved in thinking and appraisal.” But a deeper insight is suggested by a follow-up experiment in which Deisseroth’s team directed their light beam just a little more broadly, activating more pathways in the amygdala.This erased the effect entirely, leaving the mouse as skittish as ever. This implies that current drug treatments, could also in part be working against themselves.
Not on humans, anytime soon...
Optogenetics, which can focus on individual circuits with exceptional precision,In many ways LED lights compact fluorescent provide the best of both worlds. They are extremely energy efficient and environmentally friendly (and are, in fact, more environmentally friendly may hold promise for psychiatric treatment. But Deisseroth and others caution that it will be years before these tools are used on humans, if ever. The procedure involves bioengineering that most people would think twice about. First,However, the marketing muscle of Philips led light lighting could give Philips LED business an advantage. biologists identify an opsin, a protein found in photosensitive organisms like pond scum that allows them to detect light. Next, they fish out the opsin’s gene and insert it into a neuron within the brain, using viruses that have been engineered to be harmless “disposable molecular syringes,” as Anderson calls them.
There, the opsin DNA becomes part of the cell’s genetic material,While SmartView has been slow DSTT and unstable in the past, it seems to have improved greatly with recent updates. and the resulting opsin proteins conduct electric currents – the language of the brain – when they are exposed to light. (Some opsins, like channelrhodopsin, which responds to blue light, activate neurons; others, like halorhodopsin, activated by yellow light, silence them.)
Neuroscientists have employed an emerging technology called optogenetics to control electrical activity in a few carefully selected neurons in a set of mice. They flashed blue light on a specific neural pathway in the amygdala, and the mice began scampering freely across an open space.Philips LED business is inside of Philips lighting so it Led light is more difficult to determine whether they are meeting expectations. These findings could shine some light on neural mechanisms of the human brain, writes Carl E Schoonover and Abby Rabinowitz
Treating anxiety no longer requires pills or psychotherapy. At least,Thankfully a new form of led strip energy-efficient light bulbs have arrived that provide this desired feature. not for a certain set of bioengineered mice. In a study recently published in the journal Nature, neuroscientists turned these prey into bold explorers with the flip of a switch. The group, led by Karl Deisseroth, a psychiatrist and researcher at Stanford, employed an emerging technology called optogenetics to control electrical activity in a few carefully selected neurons.
First they engineered these neurons to be sensitive to light. Then, using implanted optical fibres, they flashed blue light on a specific neural pathway in the amygdala, a brain region involved in processing emotions. And the mice, which had been keeping to the sides of their enclosure, scampered freely across an open space.
While such tools are very far from being used or even tested in humans, scientists say optogenetics research is exciting because it gives them extraordinary control over specific brain circuits – and with it, new insights into an array of disorders, among them anxiety and Parkinson’s disease.
Mice are very different from humans, as Deisseroth acknowledged. But he added that because “the mammalian brain has striking commonalities across species,” the findings might lead to a better understanding of the neural mechanisms of human anxiety.
David Barlow, founder of the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University, cautions against pushing the analogy too far: “I am sure the investigators would agree that these complex syndromes can’t be reduced to the firing of a single small neural circuit without considering other important brain circuits, including those involved in thinking and appraisal.” But a deeper insight is suggested by a follow-up experiment in which Deisseroth’s team directed their light beam just a little more broadly, activating more pathways in the amygdala.This erased the effect entirely, leaving the mouse as skittish as ever. This implies that current drug treatments, could also in part be working against themselves.
Not on humans, anytime soon...
Optogenetics, which can focus on individual circuits with exceptional precision,In many ways LED lights compact fluorescent provide the best of both worlds. They are extremely energy efficient and environmentally friendly (and are, in fact, more environmentally friendly may hold promise for psychiatric treatment. But Deisseroth and others caution that it will be years before these tools are used on humans, if ever. The procedure involves bioengineering that most people would think twice about. First,However, the marketing muscle of Philips led light lighting could give Philips LED business an advantage. biologists identify an opsin, a protein found in photosensitive organisms like pond scum that allows them to detect light. Next, they fish out the opsin’s gene and insert it into a neuron within the brain, using viruses that have been engineered to be harmless “disposable molecular syringes,” as Anderson calls them.
There, the opsin DNA becomes part of the cell’s genetic material,While SmartView has been slow DSTT and unstable in the past, it seems to have improved greatly with recent updates. and the resulting opsin proteins conduct electric currents – the language of the brain – when they are exposed to light. (Some opsins, like channelrhodopsin, which responds to blue light, activate neurons; others, like halorhodopsin, activated by yellow light, silence them.)
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