Going ahead it may be possible to control individual neurons with light beams, as well as the specific sequence of brain circuits that cause people to become addicted to cocaine.
At the other end, research was progressing to improve techniques to probe the brain that could, literally, throw light on understanding the brain mechanism in emotions such as anxiety, compassion and love, said Karl Deisseroth, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist who has developed several methods to image brain circuits and observe which specific nerve cells switch on and off.
“Biologists, ethicists and philosophers must keep talking [to one another] and not let technology outstrip [ethical concerns about using drugs or medications to control the brain],” Dr. Deisseroth said on the sidelines of his talk at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
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Dr. Deisseroth, who is in his early 40s and a researcher at Stanford University, is known for making seminal advances in the field of optogenetics, an emerging field that combines biology and engineering.
Here, scientists use particular bacteria that contain light-sensitive proteins called opsins and these can be introduced to neuronal cells in the body. By shining a blue light, it’s possible to make certain neurons electrically activated.
Dr. Deisseroth, since 2005, has pioneered a series of techniques to make neurons light up in real time, though for now much of these experiments are confined to rats.
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Another seminal method that Dr. Deisseroth has pioneered is quite simply called ‘CLARITY.’ This process makes brains transparent, by building a hydrogel inside the brain and removing lipids that make the brain opaque. Scientists can peek into the wiring of a three-dimensional brain in its entirety, without having to laboriously dissect and reassemble tissues, as has been the norm.
Dr. Deisseroth, because of his interest in psychiatry and bioengineering, said that a key challenge, going forward, was in being able to harness these techniques to develop useful therapies to address anxiety and depression.
“There are distinct pathways involved in each and if we can develop specific treatments, this could address the problems with side effects and make treatment more efficient,” he added.
Dr. Deisseroth was in Delhi as part of the Sixth Annual Cell Press-TNQ India Distinguished Lectureship Series that in the past has hosted Eric Lander, Director, MIT-Harvard Broad Institute, and Shinya Yamanaka, who won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology.
Union Minister of Science & Technology Harsh Vardhan and Department of Biotechnology Secretary VijayRaghavan were among those present at the lecture.