3D light switch for the brain could lead to neural prostheses
From: Medical Design - 12/04/2012

A new tool for neuroscientists delivers a thousand pinpricks of light to a
chunk of gray matter smaller than a sugar cube. The new fiber-optic device
was created by biologists and engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT), and is the first tool that can deliver precise points of
light to a 3D section of living brain tissue. The work is a step forward for
a promising technique that uses gene therapy to turn individual brain cells
on and off with light. 

Scientists can use the new 3D “light switch” to better understand how the
brain works. It might also be used one day to create neural prostheses that
could treat conditions such as Parkinson's disease and epilepsy. 

Read the entire article at:
http://medicaldesign.com/engineering-prototyping/research-development/3D-light-switch_brain_neural-prostheses/

Links:
Ed Boyden
http://edboyden.org/

Optogenetic molecular reagents enabling control of targeted neurons and biological functions with light
http://syntheticneurobiology.org/projects/display/60/24

Optogenetic hardware and systems for control of neural circuits and biological functions with light
http://syntheticneurobiology.org/projects/display/55/24