
Work on light-triggered genes overturns old assumptions about how memories form - nature24
https://www.quantamagazine.org/light-triggered-genes-reveal-the-hidden-workings-of-memory-20171214/
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jfarlow
The Deisseroth lab has a materials list of the proteins utilized to do these
neural optogenetic studies [1].

And if you want to play with those proteins yourself or design your own, you
can use our software to explore others' designs and modify them as you'd like
[2]. (see specifically those proteins with "light sensitivity" like ChETA,
AsLov, ArchT, Jaws, SwiChR, or ReaChR).

The optogenetic tools are very creative synthetic proteins using domains from
within the human genome, as well as from many other sources to create light-
sensitive ion channels and neural activity where there was none before.

Here's the mouse's brain being controlled by blue light by means of the
synthetic ChR2 protein [3].

[1]
[https://web.stanford.edu/group/dlab/optogenetics/sequence_in...](https://web.stanford.edu/group/dlab/optogenetics/sequence_info.html)

[2] [https://serotiny.bio/pinecone/](https://serotiny.bio/pinecone/)

[3]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7uRFVR9BPU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7uRFVR9BPU)

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pests
So basically previous thinking was that memory formation and recall used the
same nueral circuit.

This research shows that there is a heavy and slow write path and a secondary
read path that is quick. This affects response time for memory recall.

Reminds me of database design.

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JackFr
If your implicit model for the brain is that "it's a computer", it's
moderately unsurprising when your results show computer like behavior.

I think this is useful and groundbreaking research, but when articles use
words like "neural circuit" it frustrates me. Circuit is a word with a
specific meaning, and to talk about neural circuits seems to be projecting an
implicit model that we don't really have justification for. Also the
imprecision of the term "memory", in the sense of "this is where a memory is
stored" seems also to overstate what is being measured, which is of course,
behavior in response to stimuli. That is related to memory in the broad sense,
but is it a memory? Is it even reasonable to think of memories as distinct and
discrete things?

~~~
eref
The term "circuit" is used in neuroscience all of the place.

