Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20982-4435, USA.
Neuron. 2012 Dec 6;76(5):901-7. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2012.10.016.
A critical technique for understanding how neuronal activity contributes to behavior is determining whether perturbing it changes behavior. The advent of optogenetic techniques allows the immediately reversible alteration of neuronal activity in contrast to chemical approaches lasting minutes to hours. Modification of behavior using optogenetics has had substantial success in rodents but has not been as successful in monkeys. Here, we show how optogenetic inactivation of superior colliculus neurons in awake monkeys leads to clear and repeatable behavioral deficits in the metrics of saccadic eye movements. We used our observations to evaluate principles governing the use of optogenetic techniques in the study of the neuronal bases of behavior in monkeys, particularly how experimental design must address relevant parameters, such as the application of light to subcortical structures, the spread of viral injections, and the extent of neuronal inactivation with light.
理解神经元活动如何影响行为的关键技术是确定干扰它是否会改变行为。光遗传学技术的出现使得神经元活动能够立即可逆地改变，而化学方法只能持续几分钟到几个小时。使用光遗传学技术来修改行为在啮齿动物中已经取得了很大的成功，但在猴子中却没有那么成功。在这里，我们展示了在清醒的猴子中光遗传学失活上丘神经元如何导致扫视眼动的度量标准中明显且可重复的行为缺陷。我们利用我们的观察结果来评估在猴子行为的神经元基础研究中使用光遗传学技术的原则，特别是实验设计必须解决哪些相关参数，例如将光应用于皮质下结构、病毒注射的扩散以及用光进行神经元失活的程度。
