Brain Control - No Longer a Thing of the Future!

          Neuroscience has a been a huge focus in that past decade, and the understanding of how the human brain works has grown immensely. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) was largely responsible for this gained knowledge from the 1990s. Recent breakthroughs have developed a thing called “optogenetics.” “Optogenetics” is very interesting technology that was based on Laureate Francis Crick’s suggestion “that neuroscientists should seek to learn how to take control of specific cells in the brain.” That is exactly what optgenetics does! First neurons must be re-engineered that they are more sensitive and will react to light. Since these special neuronal proteins don’t exist in normal cells, they must be created through “transfection” where vectors, like viruses, are used to infect the target cells. The vector must then insert the new genetic material so that light-sensitive proteins will be produced. Then fiber-optics tools are placed into a subject’s (animal) brain. These tools control specific neurons by using tiny flashes of light for a trigger. So in total, you have light-sensitive proteins located on specific neurons that can activated and deactivated on cue inside a perfectly live, essentially normal, animal. 

This new technology will not only help gain even more knowledge about how the brain works, but it may also serve as a way to learn more about many neurological disorders! Such as in Parkinson model animals, stimulation has given new insight on the circuitry that is involved in the disease. There is also potential for new therapies in the future. Schizophrenia is another neurological disorder that deals with “information processing issues in the brain.”  Optogenetics is being used to learn more about “gamma oscillations,” which are not normal in schizophrenia, as well, as autistic patients. 

I found this article particularly interesting because I am fascinated with psychological/neurological disorders. I am hopeful to one day become a psychiatrist, so new technologies that help us learn about how the brain works are always important! If optogenetics revolutionizes the way we treat mental disorders, then material taught in medical schools would be changing now. Even if it doesn’t provide a cure specifically, every bit insight gained is helpful to researchers; which in essence, will hopefully make a difference for patients everywhere. I feel that this is like history in the making, and I can’t wait to see where it goes! 

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/06/opinion/mlodinow-science-frontier