image: In mouse neurons, optogenetic treatment stimulates metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR1s), triggering the removal of glutamate receptors (green) previously inserted by the exposure to cocaine. Classical deep brain stimulation (DBS) is inefficient at producing similar results because the electrical stimulation also evokes release of dopamine (red), which through the dopamine D1 receptor inhibits the signaling of mGluR1s. Optogenetically inspired DBS includes electrical stimulation with a D1R inhibitor (in this case, ecopipam, red diamonds) thus blocking the D1R signaling and restoring the ability to erase the cocaine response in the synapse. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the Feb. 6 2015 issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by M. Creed at Lüscher at University of Geneva in Geneva, Switzerland, and colleagues was titled, "Refining deep brain stimulation to emulate optogenetic treatment of synaptic pathology." view more
Credit: [Credit: Meaghan Creed <i>et al</i>.]