Scientists monitor neuron action potentials optically
May 5, 2010
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg and colleagues in Switzerland and Japan have used fluorescent calcium indicator proteins to optically measure living mice neuron action potentials, as well as the activity of neural networks and entire brain regions.
The only way scientists could do this previously was by inserting invasive electrodes into the nerve tissue or the cells, which does not allow for identifying individual cells and damages the tissue.
The new technique allows for investigating how memories are formed and lost and when and where nerve cell activity patterns become altered, as in aging and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia.
