A new tool being developed by UT Arlington assistant
professor of physics could help scientists map and track the interactions
between neurons inside different areas of the brain.
The journal Optics Letters recently published a paper by
Samarendra Mohanty on the development of a fiber-optic, two-photon, optogenetic
stimulator and its use on human cells in a laboratory. The tiny tool builds on
Mohanty’s previous discovery that near-infrared light can be used to stimulate
a light-sensitive protein introduced into living cells and neurons in the brain.
This new method could show how different parts of the brain react when a linked
area is stimulated.