Title : Optogenetics on nonhuman primates
Abstract:
Optogenetics is a method to activate or deactivate genetically modified neurons by using light. It has been a useful tool to discover new neural circuits since it was first used in 2004. In the early experiments, especially mice, rats, and fruit flies were used. These experiments contributed to our knowledge of the neural circuits in the brain broadly. Since then, new opsins were discovered, new methods to deliver opsins into the brain, and less invasive optogenetics techniques were developed. Optogenetics experiments still cannot be conducted on humans. However, one of the most essential improvements in the field to understand the human brain
without conducting experiments on humans was to start conducting optogenetics experiments on nonhuman primates (NHPs). Experiments on NHPs provided us to discover new neural circuits more similar to the human brain and predict the consequences of a possible optogenetics experiment on humans. The experiments on NHPs differ from those on rodents in some ways. Even though conducting optogenetics experiments on NHPs provides us with a better understanding of the human brain than of rodent brains, it has several obstacles to
working on NHPs due to some reasons. First, it is harder to target the specific regions of an NHP’s brain than of a rodent’s brain because an NHP’s brain is more complex than a rodent’s. Moreover, rodents’ DNAs are less complex, so neurons being modified to be light-sensitive in a primate brain is tougher than in a rodent brain. In addition, implanting fiber optics is a significant issue when conducting an optogenetics experiment on NHPs. Therefore, it is necessary to use non-invasive techniques to deliver light into a primate’s brain, which makes the experiment more demanding. Essentially, conducting optogenetics experiments on NHPs has been and will
continue to be one of the leading methods in neuroscience research to understand the human brain. Furthermore, testing these experiments on NHPs will make optogenetics experiments and treatments on humans possible, which might be crucial to find solutions for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease and anxiety, in humans and for discovering new neural circuits to understand human behaviors more comprehensively in the future.
Keywords: Optogenetics, NHPs, Neural Circuits, Opsin Delivery
Audience Take Away
- The significance of optogenetics on NHPs
- The main issues of optogenetics on NHPs
- Less invasive optogenetics techniques to be used on NHPs
- Optogenetics as a tool to discover new neural circuits
