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LESTER WOLFE WORKSHOP IN LASER BIOMEDICINE

Optogenetics - Probing the Brain with Light

This Lester Wolfe Workshop covers a relatively new, but already a high-impact field called Optogenetics. It is concerned with the use of
genetically encoded light-sensitive proteins like channel rhodopsins and
high-speed optical methods for probing and controlling specifically
targeted neurons within intact neural circuits. Light can be delivered at
will to switch on or off specific groups of neurons thus providing answers
to fundamental questions in neurobiology.

Optogenetics - Engaging the Brain Microcircuits with Light
Arto Nurmikko, Brown University

Engineering Light-gated Neurotransmitter Receptors
Stephanie Szobota, University of California, Berkeley

Optical Deconstruction of Sleep-wake Circuits in the Brain
Antoine Adamantidis, Stanford University

A New View of Neocortical Function: Integration of Optogenetic Control with High-resolution fMRI
Itamar Kahn, Harvard University

Tuesday, April 20, 2010, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
Massachusetts General Hospital
Richard B. Simches Research Center, Room 3110
185 Cambridge Street, Boston
(located in Charles River Plaza next to Whole Foods Market and CVS)

Refreshments served at 3:30 PM

Sponsored by the George R. Harrison Spectroscopy Laboratory, MGH Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, and Center for the Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT).