, 9 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
For those using optogenetics: a cautionary tale. Light alone can modulate neural activity and behavior through heating. Our latest paper shows mechanism. 1/
In striatal projection neurons, we find that continuous illumination at 532nm for more than a couple seconds at >3mW suppresses firing without an opsin present. 2/
This is concerning, as these parameters are not unusual for optogenetic inhibition experiments with Halo and Arch. And it’s not just striatum. 3/
We can reproduce by directly changing temperature of tissue. Effects on firing appear to be due to activation of an inwardly-rectifying potassium conductance. 4/
Intracranial light delivery alone can also influence behavior. We modulated rotational behavior in mice by illuminating striatum at 7mW for 10s with 532nm light. 5/
Telltale sign that modulation is due to heating? Slow timecourse (tau ~1 sec) vs faster kinetics of optogenetic manipulations (tau ~10msec). 6/
How to avoid this? Pulsed light better than continuous, red light better than green/blue, minimize total power. And do blinded controls. 7/
A great team effort from @sfowen02 and Max Liu. If you want to read the paper, here’s the URL: nature.com/articles/s4159…
full access (non-downloadable) version: rdcu.be/bG4nF
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