Decoding the motor system through the use of multiphoton holographic optogenetics.
We can write precise patterns of activity into distributed cells in behaving animals to understand the nature of action.
MISSION STATEMENT
Understanding the causal relationship between neural activity and behavior is a fundamental goal but requires innovative advanced approaches.
1
What does motor cortex activity represent?
Individual muscles activity, Cartesian destinations of planned movements, or higher order abstract plans? And what features of activity (cell identity, firing rate/pattern, or timing) drive actions?
2
How do different brain areas coordinate to enable actions?
The motor system is not just the motor cortex, what information is shared between different regions, and how do different genetically or physiologically defined cells contribute to actions?
3
What distinguishes activity that triggers a behavior from that which plans without executing?
Are the same cells or patterns of activity required for both planning future actions and executing them? Do certain patterns of activity recruit some brain areas and not others?CABM Program for Holographic and Optogenetic Biology
Multiphoton Optogenetics is a broad class of tools that allow the precise manipulation of neurons to understand behaviors and neural circuits. There are vastly more questions than could ever be answered by a single lab.
If you’re a Rutgers based lab and want to use our 3D-SHOT based multiphoton optogenetic manipulation system for your own work, reach out — we’re set up for collaborations and sharing.
Contact: ian.oldenburg@rutgers.edu.
Sculpted Light in the Brain
A conference series founded by Ian and fellow postdocs to bring together groups independently work on Multiphoton Optogenetic’s to share information and strategies.
