Mammalian cortical voltage imaging using genetically encoded voltage indicators: a review honoring professor Amiram Grinvald

Abstract

© 2017 The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI. The pioneering work of Amiram Grinvald established voltage-sensitive dye imaging (VSDI) in the mammalian cortex in the 1980s and inspired decades of cortical voltage imaging and the associated technological developments. The recent conception and development of genetically encoded voltage indicators (GEVIs) overcome many of the limitations of classical VSDI, and open experimental approaches that provide accruing support for orchestrated neuronal circuit dynamics of spatially distributed neuronal circuit underlying behaviors. We will review recent achievements using GEVIs to optically monitor the cortical activity in mammalian brains in vivo and provide a perspective for potential future directions.