Optogenetics Explained

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Published: November 3, 2017

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Allie Astrocyte from NeuroTransmissions explains how channel rhodopsins can be expressed in neurons to control neuronal activity, with light.

This video won first place in the 2017 Brain Awareness Video Contest with BrainFacts.org and the Society for Neuroscience: http://www.brainfacts.org/bavc

What if you could control someone's mind and make them more aggressive or less anxious or extremely hungry? Well, IT'S POSSIBLE! Optogenetics let scientists literally control the brain using light. Using whaa?? Yep, the light actually controls the signaling of individual neurons through channelrhodopsin. Learn more about how neuroscientists are controlling minds with Alie Astrocyte!