Optical dissection of brain circuits with patterned illumination through the phase modulation of light.

摘要: Brain function relies on electrical signaling among ensembles of neurons. These signals are encoded in space - neurons organized complex three-dimensional networks and time-cells generate a millisecond scale. How the spatial temporal structure these controls higher brain functions is largely unknown. The recent advent novel molecules that manipulate monitor activity genetically identified cells provides, for first time, ability to causally test contribution specific cell subpopulations phenomena. However, most commonly used approaches limited their illuminate tissue with high precision. In this review article, we focus one technique, patterned illumination through phase modulation light using liquid crystal modulators (LC-SLMs), which has potential overcome some major limitations current experimental approaches.