Illuminating brain circuits in action in health and disease
Optical techniques have become central to research at the forefront of brain science and are still rapidly increasing in their breadth and importance to the field. For example, the U.S. BRAIN Initiative has as one of its priorities the aim of fostering continued innovation in this domain. I will present recent advances in optical brain imaging, which have allowed the visualization of large-scale neural codes in behaving animals, as well as optical readouts of neuronal voltage oscillations. In particular, I will discuss the miniature integrated microscope and a recent application of this technology to the study of Parkinson's disease and L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia. Emerging innovations in optical brain imaging are providing new glimpses into how multiple brain areas work together to coordinate mammalian behavior and are likely to yield improved understanding of both healthy and diseased brains.