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The big dream for neuroscientists is to be able to watch our brain cells in action, in real time. 

Well, new research has maybe found the most promising¹ tool yet—a technique to watch individual neurons light up in response to a stimulus², like flipping³ on a light switch.

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute inserted a light-sensitive protein into a lab mouse. When a neuron fires, calcium⁴ ions flood through special cell channels. And when this light-sensitive protein binds⁵ to calcium, it radiates yellow light. So when the neuron fires it glows yellow.

When scientists shot a puff⁶ of air at the mouse’s whiskers, the brain cells in the sensory⁷ areas of the cortex glowed yellow. They watch this via thin glass fibers⁸ inserted into that brain region.

With this technique scientists now have a way to watch single cell activity in many different regions of the brain at once.

The hope is to investigate how the brain forms and loses neural⁹ connections during life experiences and when suffering from illnesses such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and schizophrenia.

—Christie Nicholson