In this presentation, Lisa Gunaydin will introduce some of the common uses of optogenetics in an in vivo setting. Specifically, Gunaydin will:

• Describe different purposes of optogenetics in vivo, such as to manipulate behavior and test functional connectivity.
• Introduce the role of combining optogenetics with other methods, such as neural recordings or imaging.
• Introduce translational applications of optogenetics to develop new therapeutic paradigms.

After watching this presentation, you should be able to describe several types of in vivo experiments in which optogenetics can be useful.

Visit the Community forum for all eight modules to share your insights and best practices, ask questions, and engage with other training series’ participants.

Speaker

Lisa Gunaydin, PhD

Lisa Gunaydin is an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases at the University of California, San Francisco. Her research focuses on understanding neural circuit mechanisms underlying anxiety disorders. She uses optical neural recording and stimulation techniques to understand how normal patterns of neural activity are altered in psychiatric disease states, and how targeted circuit modulation can reverse these abnormal patterns of activity and correct pathological behaviors, with the goal of identifying more specific treatment approaches for anxiety disorders. Gunaydin earned her PhD in neuroscience from Stanford University and completed her postdoctoral training at the Gladstone Institutes.

In this presentation, D. Paola Calderon and Aryn Gittis will introduce some of the common uses of optogenetics in an in vivo setting. Specifically, Calderon and Gittis will:

• Identify experimental settings adequate to establish a causal relationship between neuronal populations and behavior.
• Describe experimental settings required for using optogenetics to study neuronal circuits during in vivo recordings.

After watching this presentation, you should be able to describe the essential details to design and perform an in vivo optogenetics experiment using acute and chronic preparations.

Visit the Community forum for all eight modules to share your insights and best practices, ask questions, and engage with other training series’ participants.

Speakers

D. Paola Calderon, MD, PhD

Paola Calderon is an assistant professor of neuroscience in anesthesiology in the department of anesthesiology and the Brain and Mind Research Institute at Weill Cornell Medical College. Her laboratory is interested in understanding how different components of the arousal pathways establish and maintains consciousness. Specifically, Calderon is interested in determining the dynamics of subcortical and cortical activity that promote wakefulness under normal and pathological conditions. She earned her MD at Bosque University Medical School in Bogota, Colombia and her PhD from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She completed her postdoctoral training at The Rockefeller University.

Aryn Gittis, PhD

Aryn Gittis is an associate professor in the department of biological science and the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition at Carnegie Mellon University. Her research focuses on the organization and function of neural circuits in the basal ganglia and how these circuits are altered by experience and in disease, particularly Parkinson’s disease. Gittis earned her PhD in neuroscience from the University of California, San Diego and completed her postdoctoral training at the Gladstone Institutes/University of California, San Francisco.

The resources below were selected by Lisa Gunaydin, D. Paola Calderon, and Aryn Gittis, faculty from Module 4 of SfN’s Optogenetics Training Series. These resources supplement their presentations, In Vivo Applications of Optogenetics and Nuts and Bolts of In Vivo Optogenetic Experiments.

Use these resources to better understand appropriate applications and key concepts of designing and interpreting optogenetics experiments using in vivo preparations.

The Optogenetics Wiki

This platform covers choice of opsins, opsin expression, and hardware with a supporting bibliography.

Circuit-Breakers: Optical Technologies for Probing Neural Signals and Systems

This Zhang et al. 2007 review provides a basic overview of channelrhodopsin-2 and halorhodopsin for bidirectional control of neural activity.

Optogenetics in Neural Systems

Yizhar et al. offer a comprehensive review of optogenetic constructs, targeting approaches, and light delivery considerations for optogenetics experiments in vivo.

Natural Neural Projection Dynamics Underlying Social Behavior

Gunaydin et al. describe optogenetic manipulation of behavior with projection-specific targeting and showcase how optogenetics and imaging can be used in parallel to dissect endogenous and causal circuits underlying behavior.

Optetrode: A Multichannel Readout for Optogenetic Control in Freely Moving Mice

In this technical report from 2012, Anikeeva et al. describe a method for integrating optogenetic stimulation with electrophysiological recording to map functional connectivity in vivo.

Rehabilitating the Addicted Brain With Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Diana et al. review therapeutic applications of transcranial magnetic stimulation and potential translational relevance of optogenetic circuit dissection.

Construction of Implantable Optical Fibers for Long-Term Optogenetic Manipulation of Neural Circuits

In this Sparta et al. protocol from 2011, described is a method to construct implantable optical fibers with minimal tissue damage or change in light output over time. Implanted fibers readily interface with in vivo electrophysiological arrays or electrochemical detection electrodes.

Fiber-Optic Implantation for Chronic Optogenetic Stimulation of Brain Tissue

This 2012 Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) protocol from Ung and Arenkiel describes the assembly and implantation of a fiber optic for chronic photostimulation of brain tissue.

In Vivo Optogenetic Stimulation of the Rodent Central Nervous System

This 2015 JOVE protocol from Sidor et al. offers a step-by-step guide to the design and set-up of laser systems and provides a full protocol for carrying out multiple and simultaneous in vivo optogenetic stimulations compatible with most rodent behavioral testing paradigms.

Optogenetics Resources from the Deisseroth Lab at Stanford University

This set of resources from the Deisseroth Lab includes information on viral vector sequence information and vector preparation, hardware for optogenetics experiments, and more than 100 relevant references.

Visit the Community forum for all eight modules to share your insights and best practices, ask questions, and engage with other training series’ participants.

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