Optogenetics experiment checklist

Description

Optogenetics, calcium imaging, and modern microscopy provide a powerful approach to uncover new biological phenomena and explore cellular and molecular mechanisms in ways that are both visual and quantitative. Paired properly, optogenetic approaches combined with calcium imaging can determine functional relationships within biological circuits. For example, stimulating or inhibiting neural populations, and subsequently recording neural activity, allows one to examine the presence of epistatic neural relationships. While technological advancement makes these methods more accessible, it should be emphasized that there are a number of understated complexities involved with these types of imaging-based experiments. Successful application of optogenetics requires good experimental design, controls, and proper understanding of microscopy limitations in order to generate clear and easily interpretable data. This is true both at the level of designing one's own experiments as well as for critically evaluating studies carried out by others. In a recent class we taught at Caltech, we introduced students to these concept, practical details, and limitations of optogenetic and calcium imaging experiments. Here we share a brief "checklist" from that class to make it easier for scientists to start their first hands-on optogenetic and calcium imaging experiments.

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