Abstract
As its name implies, optogenetics comprises a technological platform consisting of development and a combined implementation of optical and genetic methods for studying neural contributions to behavior. Since its inception a decade ago, it has rapidly grown to become a popular and robust technology, leading to many novel findings that have advanced our knowledge regarding the neurobiological basis of behavior and illuminated important roles for brain circuits and their activity in a number of disease states. Nevertheless, these first decade contributions reflect the “tip of the iceberg,” with optogenetics and its applications poised to produce more significant future advances in neuroscience research, and perhaps even in development of optogenetic-based technologies for human disease therapeutics. This chapter will provide a brief historical background of optogenetics, followed by a narrative on the technology and a review of influential discoveries that have emerged from its application. Finally, a commentary regarding the future of optogenetics in relation to technological innovations, extending its utility to advance basic neuroscience research, and its potential implementation to brain disease therapeutics will be presented.
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Michaelides, M., Bonci, A. (2016). Optogenetics. In: Pfaff, D., Volkow, N. (eds) Neuroscience in the 21st Century. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3474-4_172
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3474-4_172
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