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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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All-Optical Electrophysiology, from Ion Channels to Brain
Adam Cohen, Ph.D.
Professor
Chemistry, Chemical Biology & Physics
Harvard University
To study a neural circuit, one would like to probe the activity of many neurons, with high resolution in space and time. A key challenge has been the difficulty of visualizing changes in transmembrane potential. We discovered that a protein derived from a Dead Sea microorganism could function as an exquisitely fast and sensitive fluorescent reporter of membrane voltage. We developed optical tools for simultaneous optical perturbation and optical readout of membrane voltage. Using these tools we have studied electrical activity in primary neurons /in vitro/, in acute brain slice, and in live mice. We have also studied human iPSC-based neuronal models of diseases such as pain, epilepsy, and ALS.Optical electrophysiology provides new insights into these complex bioelectric phenomena.
This presentation can be seen via videoconference on the Emory Campus HSRB E160
