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Precise multimodal optical control of neural ensemble activity

Nature Neuroscience volume 21, pages 881–893 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Understanding brain function requires technologies that can control the activity of large populations of neurons with high fidelity in space and time. We developed a multiphoton holographic approach to activate or suppress the activity of ensembles of cortical neurons with cellular resolution and sub-millisecond precision. Since existing opsins were inadequate, we engineered new soma-targeted (ST) optogenetic tools, ST-ChroME and IRES-ST-eGtACR1, optimized for multiphoton activation and suppression. Employing a three-dimensional all-optical read–write interface, we demonstrate the ability to simultaneously photostimulate up to 50 neurons distributed in three dimensions in a 550 × 550 × 100-µm3 volume of brain tissue. This approach allows the synthesis and editing of complex neural activity patterns needed to gain insight into the principles of neural codes.

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Fig. 1: ST-ChroME allows precise high-fidelity 2P activation.
Fig. 2: Fast, potent holographic suppression of neural activity.
Fig. 3: Creating and editing spatiotemporal neural activity in vivo.
Fig. 4: Spatiotemporal activation of cortical inhibition.
Fig. 5: All-optical read–write with high spatiotemporal fidelity.
Fig. 6: All optical suppression.
Fig. 7: Manipulating neural ensembles with high temporal and spatial precision.
Fig. 8: Altering population correlational structure with 2P ensemble stimulation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Feller, A. Naka, and J. Brown for critical feedback on the manuscript and discussions. We thank C. Baker and M. Bolton for soma-targeted ChR2 AAVs. We thank M. Li and the UC Berkeley Vision Science Core, Gene Delivery Module, for preparation of AAVs (supported by NIH Core Grant P30 EY003176). We deeply appreciate the efforts of D. Chu, C. Douglas, and R. Hakim for important technical assistance. We thank D. Taylor for help with mouse work and histology. H.A. is a New York Stem Cell Foundation-Robertson Investigator. This work was supported by The New York Stem Cell Foundation and by grants from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, NINDS grant DP2NS087725-01, the McKnight Foundation, NINDS award F32NS095690-01 to A.R.M., the Simon’s Foundation Collaboration for the Global Brain award 415569 to I.A.O., and a fellowship from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation to L.W. This research was developed with funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Contract No. N660011-17-C-4015.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Alan R. Mardinly, Ian Antón Oldenburg, Nicolas C. Pégard.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Alan R. Mardinly, Ian Antón Oldenburg, Nicolas C. Pégard, Savitha Sridharan, Kirill Chesnov, Stephen G. Brohawn & Hillel Adesnik

  2. Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Nicolas C. Pégard & Laura Waller

  3. Biophysics Graduate Group, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Evan H. Lyall

  4. Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Stephen G. Brohawn & Hillel Adesnik

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Contributions

A.R.M., I.A.O., N.C.P. and H.A conceived the project and built the system. A.R.M. designed and performed all experiments involving excitatory opsins. I.A.O. designed and performed all experiments involving inhibitory opsins. N.C.P. designed and assembled the light paths and wrote custom holography software. S.S. performed cloning, mutagenesis, cell culture, and one-photon recordings in CHO cells. A.R.M., I.A.O., N.C.P., and E.H.L. wrote code and developed software for experimental control. K.C. performed histology. S.G.B. performed modeling of the Chronos pore region. L.W. contributed expertise on holographic design. A.R,M., I.A.O., N.C.P., and H.A. wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hillel Adesnik.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Text and Figures

Supplementary Figures 1–23

Reporting Summary

Supplementary Table 1 – Optical Setup References

This table provides details on each optical stimulation path used in this study and provides a quick reference to determine which experiments were performed using each setup

Supplementary Table 2 – 3D-SHOT 2.0

This table provides technical details and a calculation tool to allow readers to set up a 3D-SHOT stimulation path

Supplementary Video 1 – SLM performance limitations for high speed 3D-SHOT

This video demonstrates high speed switching of holograms at 300 Hz

Supplementary Video 2 – All-Optical Ensemble Stimulation in 3D

Average dF/F movies of ensembles stimulation data at 30 Hz as in Fig7-8

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Mardinly, A.R., Oldenburg, I.A., Pégard, N.C. et al. Precise multimodal optical control of neural ensemble activity. Nat Neurosci 21, 881–893 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-018-0139-8

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