Exploring a brain's switchboard operators (VIDEO)

NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Caption

Scientists studied how just a few nerve cell in the mouse brain may control the switch between internal thoughts and external distractions. Using optogenetics, a technique that uses light-sensitive molecules to control nerve cell firing, the scientists were able to switch on and off drowsiness in mice.

Credit

Video courtesy of the Halassa lab, NYU Langone Medical Center and NINDS.

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