Optogenetic control of two neural populations
Use the Lumos optical stimulator and Axion's multiwell Maestro MEA system to study neural network activity with optogenetics. Neurons on the left side of the well have been transduced with a blue light-activated ion channel (channel rhodopsin, ChR2), the neurons on the right have not. Neurites project across the gap over 10 days and now connect both populations. Watch as blue light induces activity in the ChR2-labeled left-side neural population, that then spreads to, and activates the unlabeled right-side neural population. After the addition of a cocktail of synaptic blockers the neural cells on the left can no longer drive the cells on the right to fire.
