Remote Control of Behavior through Genetically Targeted Photostimulation of
Neurons
Susana Q. Lima and Gero Miesenböck
, 
Department of Cell
Biology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven,
Connecticut 06520
Received 8 October 2004; revised 4 January
2005; accepted 2 February 2005. Published: April 7, 2005.
Available online 7 April 2005.
Summary
Optically gated ion channels were expressed in circumscribed groups of
neurons in the Drosophila CNS so that broad illumination of flies evoked
action potentials only in genetically designated target cells. Flies harboring
the “phototriggers” in different sets of neurons responded to laser light with
behaviors specific to the sites of phototrigger expression. Photostimulation of
neurons in the giant fiber system elicited the characteristic escape behaviors
of jumping, wing beating, and flight; photostimulation of dopaminergic neurons
caused changes in locomotor activity and locomotor patterns. These responses
reflected the direct optical activation of central neuronal targets rather than
confounding visual input, as they persisted unabated in carriers of a mutation
that eliminates phototransduction. Encodable phototriggers provide noninvasive
control interfaces for studying the connectivity and dynamics of neural
circuits, for assigning behavioral content to neurons and their activity
patterns, and, potentially, for restoring information corrupted by injury or
disease.
