Optogenetics, a new technology invented by Karl Deisseroth, M.D., Ph.D., with the help of a Foundation Young Investigator Grant, gives researchers extraordinary control over specific brain circuits — and with it, new insights into an array of disorders, among them anxiety and Parkinson’s disease.

Foundation Grantees David Anderson, Ph.D., and Ed Boyden, Ph.D., also featured in the article, are using optogenetics in their research. Optogenetics uses light to make neurons fire one at a time, opening new vistas to understanding the mechanisms behind brain and behavior disorders.

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