ME-Optogen · Micro-endoscopes for in-depth high-resolution optogenetics
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2017-04-01 → 2019-03-31
- EU contribution
- €173,076
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Micro-endoscopes for in-depth high-resolution optogenetics
Understanding how the brain works is one of the grand scientific challenges of our times and constitutes a priority research line for the European Union. In this context, the use of light is becoming more important for the study of the brain with each passing day. By using light we have today the possibility of inducing and imaging neural activity in entire brain regions. However, to really decrypt the neural code we now need to understand how individual neurons collaborate together to build up a local brain circuit as well as how the spatial and temporal organisation of neural activity at the single cell level influences brain computation. Such complex biological problem demands more advanced optical methods capable of precisely targeting hundreds of neurons at will with high spatio-temporal precision and in the desired, even few mm deep, brain region. To overcome these problems this project was organised around two main objectives: (1) the development of an advanced optical method capable of precisely targeting hundreds of neurons in the mouse brain simultaneously; (2) the development of a new generation of optical micro-endoscopes capable of reaching deep regions of the mouse brain while maintaining precise optical targeting. With these two objectives achieved we are now in a position of using the novel optical methods, and especially the micro-endoscope, to study deep neural circuits in the mouse brain, such as fear circuits in the mouse amygdala, or deep visual circuits. The mouse brain can serve as a model to study certain neural circuits and formulate hypothesis on how the human brain function. The optical developments carried out during this project will definitely help understanding neural circuits at a depth and with a precision so far unattainable.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Understanding how the brain works is one of the grand scientific challenges of our times and constitutes a priority research line for the European Union. The study of the brain mechanisms that underlie fear learning and response is particularly relevant as it could provide the key to control anxiety disorders, with an associated high social and economic benefit for the European community.Recent studies indicate that specific areas of the amygdala, a structure located deep within the brain’s medial temporal lobe, are crucial for the generation of fear responses in mice. To gain more insight, it is now necessary to understand how individual neurons in these areas act and collaborate together to generate the appropriate response. Crucially, this requires the capability to observe and manipulate fear circuits in deep brain structures with single neuron resolution. However, reaching at the same time sufficient depth and high resolution represents a great experimental challenge. At present no technique exists that can enable such a study.The objective of the project is to overcome the current experimental limitations and develop a new optical method for the precise imaging and manipulation of neurons even deep in the brain of living animals. To this end we will extend advanced high-resolution optogenetic stimulation and imaging techniques to an optical micro-endoscope capable of reaching the desired depth in the brain of mice. Proof of principle experiments in vivo in the amygdala of mice will be performed.This highly multidisciplinary project, at the frontiers between optics and neuroscience, will require the great expertise of the host group in optogenetics methods, the strong background of the fellow in high-resolution optical techniques and the collaboration with an external advisor, expert in neurophysiology. The success of this research will provide new powerful tools to study the brain, thus potentiating the European competitiveness in this important field.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS · ParisCoordinatorFrance
Links
- View on CORDIS
- DOI: 10.3030/746173
- https://lositalianos2018.blogspot.com/2019/05/shining-light-on-brain-me-optogen.html
Data: CORDIS, © European Union