{"id":5607,"date":"2012-07-18T22:28:05","date_gmt":"2012-07-18T22:28:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mtlsites.mit.edu\/annual_reports\/2012\/?p=5607"},"modified":"2012-07-18T22:28:05","modified_gmt":"2012-07-18T22:28:05","slug":"waveguide-micro-probes-for-optical-control-of-excitable-cells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mtlsites.mit.edu\/annual_reports\/2012\/waveguide-micro-probes-for-optical-control-of-excitable-cells\/","title":{"rendered":"Waveguide Micro-probes for Optical Control of Excitable Cells"},"content":{"rendered":"

Professor Ed Boyden uses light to precisely control neural activity.\u00a0 His lab has invented safe, effective ways to deliver light-gated membrane proteins to neurons and other excitable cells (e.g., muscle, immune cells, pancreatic cells, etc.) in an enduring fashion, thus making the cells permanently sensitive to being activated or silenced by millisecond-timescale pulses of blue and yellow light, respectively [1<\/a>] <\/sup>.\u00a0 This ability to modulate neural activity with a temporal precision that approaches that of the neural code itself holds great promise for human health, and his lab has developed animal models of epilepsy and Parkinson\u2019s disease to explore the use of optical control to develop new therapies.<\/p>\n

We have recently developed mass-fabricatable multiple light guide microstructures produced using standard microfabrication techniques to deliver light to activate and silence neural target regions along their length as desired [2<\/a>] <\/sup>. \u00a0Each probe is a 100- to 150-micron-wide insertable micro-structure with many miniature lightguides running in parallel and delivering light to many points along the axis of insertion.\u00a0 Such a design maximizes the flexibility and power of optical neural control while minimizing tissue damage. \u00a0We are currently developing 2-D arrays of such probes so multiple colors of light can be delivered to 3-dimensional patterns in the brain, at the resolution of tens to hundreds of microns, thus furthering the causal analysis of complex neural circuits and dynamics.\u00a0 Such devices will allow the substrates that causally contribute to neurological and psychiatric disorders to be systematically analyzed via causal neural control tools.\u00a0 Given recent efforts to test such reagents in nonhuman primates, these devices may also enable a new generation of optical neural control prosthetics, contributing directly to the alleviation of intractable brain disorders.<\/p>\n

The initial light-guide structures have been fabricated from silicon oxynitride clad with silicon dioxide, and tests show excellent transmission of light with no visible loss in the taper and bend regions of the patterns [2<\/a>] <\/sup>.\u00a0 Significantly, the novel 90\u02da bend invented to direct light laterally out the side of the narrow probe functions as designed [2<\/a>] <\/sup>.\u00a0 The optical sources for initial tests with the probe are independent laser modules coupled to one end of a fiber-optic ribbon cable (see Figure 2).\u00a0 The other end of the ribbon cable is butt-coupled to the inputs of the probe via a standard fiber-optic connector ferrule.\u00a0 This allows for increased modularity and control in initial probe testing.<\/p>\n

We are now utilizing transgenic mice, which express optogenetic activators and silencers in cortical pyramidal neurons, to demonstrate optogenetic control of neural circuits in a fashion appropriate for in vivo circuit mapping or brain machine interface prototyping. \u00a0Our goal is to explore the degree to which this technology can be used to functionally map neural network connectivity over large, multi-region circuits in the brain, and to subserve a new generation of neural control prosthetics.<\/p>\n\n\t\t