Employing optogenetics in memory research

Abstract

Optogenetics presents many opportunities for memory research, and was indeed warmly embraced by the field, and already employed to probe memory mechanisms in over a hundred published projects. The incorporation of optogenetics enabled scientists to causally pinpoint the real-time roles of specific neuronal populations within the brain structures underlying memory, the functional connections between them, and the dynamics of memory representation over time. This chapter presents an elaborate point-by-point plan of designing and executing any optogenetic memory experiment, recognizes possible pitfalls, and offers solutions. The technical aspects will be discussed in light of multiple examples of the ways in which optogenetics has been used in memory research, and the exciting insight it provided.