Light pulses used to control brain

Scientists are testing new treatments for brain disorders after successfully controlling the behaviour of monkeys with light pulses.

The pulses successfully activated very specific parts of the brain, researchers said.

Researchers from the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium, Harvard University and MIT, USA, used optogenetics, a state-of-the-art method for artificially steering brain activity to influence behaviour.

The procedure requires genes from light-sensitive micro-organisms to be inserted into brain cells or neurons, which can then be “controlled” by activating these neurons with short pulses of light.

It means that very specific cell types can be activated without affecting any others.

The researchers manipulated the neurons in the network that controls eye movement. Using blue light pulses, they were able to activate very localised neurons to bring about subtle changes in eye movements.

Writing in Current Biology, the authors say they hope a similar method could now be developed for therapeutic treatments in humans with neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease.

Optogenetically Induced Behavioral and Functional Network Changes in Primates. Gerits A et al. Current Biology. 10.1016/j.cub.2012.07.023