Short course / students seminar on Optogenetic

Optogenetic methods have revolutionized neuroscience in recent years. Optogenetic tools for modulation of neuronal activity allow refined perturbation of neural circuits in vivo and enable the inference of causality between the activity of neural circuit elements and behavior. The rapid growth of this field has generated numerous tools and potential applications, but has also created new challenges in tool selection, experimental design and potential caveats which need to be recognized and addressed.

This lecture series will provide a basic introduction into the optogenetic toolbox and a thorough discussion of the range of available tools and approaches, experiment design, and potential drawbacks. In the final meeting, students will prepare a brief presentation describing a published study of interest, or of their own project, followed by group discussion.

Limited to 15 students / postdocs

August 19^th: Introduction

09:30-09:45  Brief personal introductions

09:45-10:30 Introduction to optogenetics technology:

-          A short history of optogenetics

-          Biophysics of microbial rhodopsin-based tools

-          Engineering of novel microbial rhodopsin variants and the current state of the “toolbox”.

-          Choosing the right tool for the job – considerations in experiment design.

10:40-11:20  Targeting specific neuronal populations:

-          Viral vector based approaches

-          Transgenic mouse approaches

-          Hybrid vector/transgene approaches and others

-          Caveats and problems of genetic targeting

-          Spatial targeting: putting light to work.

11:30-12:00  Open discussion

August 20^th: Integrating optogenetics with behavior and physiology

09:30-10:20  Validating optogenetic experiments:

-          In vitro readouts of neural activity

-          In vivo electrophysiology and other measurements

-          Potential artifacts and drawbacks

10:30-11:20  Optogenetic manipulation of synaptic function

-          Targeting optogenetic tools to synaptic terminals

-          Controlling synaptic release with optogenetic tools

-          Silencing synaptic terminals?

-          Optogenetic induction of synaptic plasticity

11:30-12:00 Single-cell optogenetics

-          Tools for localized one- and two-photon excitation

-          All-optical stimulation and readout in cortical circuits

August 21: Student presentations

9:30-16:00     Students will present their own project or a critical discussion of a published paper using optogenetic techniques.