8.4: Presentation session: Plenary speaker — BRAiN measurement and imaging technologies and making a difference: Identifying and closing the knowledge gaps discussion/forum: “Stimulating neurons with light: Current state and future challenge

The use of infrared laser pulses provides a novel method to induce electrical activity (EP/AP) in neurons. This method has been shown to have several fundamental advantages over traditional electrical stimulation, including the spatial precision of stimulation that can be achieved in a non-contact fashion, and the lack of a stimulation artifact on the recording electrodes in classic stimulation-recording experiments. Thus this approach holds promise for a new paradigm in neural interfaces. An overview of the concepts and applications of optical nerve stimulation will be presented. Characterization of optical stimulation and physiological validation will be shown. The underlying biophysical mechanisms of optical stimulations appear to be thermally mediated. I will present our work on mechanistic studies as well as on the applications in the peripheral nervous system (stimulation of motor neurons and stimulation of sensory nerves in the cochlea), stimulation in the CNS, and the development of a stand-alone optical nerve stimulator.