Optogenetics, which pairs light-sensitive genes with a light source to selectively switch brain cells on or off, has shown promise as a research tool and a potential therapy. But the technology mostly delivers light to one spot, whereas brain activity usually involves complex sequences of activation in different locations. A new device takes optogenetics into three dimensions, with the ability to send patterns of light to neurons at various coördinates in the brain.
“In the coming few years, there will be tons of devices like this,” said Ilker Ozden, a research assistant professor in the Nanophotonics and Neuroengineering Laboratory at Brown University. Ozden was not involved in the research but is one of several researchers working on similar technologies.
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