By Prachi Patel
First Published May 2009
Laser-activated probes stimulate brain cells better, say scientists
19 May 2009—Understanding how the brain works typically involves sticking sharp metal electrodes into an animal’s brain and zapping its neurons with electricity. But researchers at Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, are working on what could be a more benign, efficient, and effective way to study brain circuits: using light.
The researchers have created a new kind of brain probe by coating the inside of a tiny hollow glass needle with nanoparticles of lead selenide, a semiconductor commonly used in infrared detectors. They insert the needle tips into slices of rat brains and shine infrared light from an 830-nanometer-wavelength titanium-sapphire laser on the probes. The nanoparticles absorb photons and generate an electric field that stimulates neurons, whose signals are recorded using another electrode placed next to them.
Metal electrodes activate only brain cells that are in a tight cluster around the electrodes, which is not what happens when you naturally stimulate your gray matter. “When you smell a rose, you’re activating many, many brain cells, but they’re dispersed all over your olfactory system,” says Ben Strowbridge, a Case Western neuroscience professor who took part in the research. “Our technique can get much closer to activating lots of different areas instead of activating many axons that are close together,” he says.
First Published May 2009
Laser-activated probes stimulate brain cells better, say scientists
19 May 2009—Understanding how the brain works typically involves sticking sharp metal electrodes into an animal’s brain and zapping its neurons with electricity. But researchers at Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, are working on what could be a more benign, efficient, and effective way to study brain circuits: using light.
The researchers have created a new kind of brain probe by coating the inside of a tiny hollow glass needle with nanoparticles of lead selenide, a semiconductor commonly used in infrared detectors. They insert the needle tips into slices of rat brains and shine infrared light from an 830-nanometer-wavelength titanium-sapphire laser on the probes. The nanoparticles absorb photons and generate an electric field that stimulates neurons, whose signals are recorded using another electrode placed next to them.
Metal electrodes activate only brain cells that are in a tight cluster around the electrodes, which is not what happens when you naturally stimulate your gray matter. “When you smell a rose, you’re activating many, many brain cells, but they’re dispersed all over your olfactory system,” says Ben Strowbridge, a Case Western neuroscience professor who took part in the research. “Our technique can get much closer to activating lots of different areas instead of activating many axons that are close together,” he says.
