Photonic interfacing with natural and bioengineered large-scale neuronal networks

In addition to the widely-used ability to selectively target specific cell types, optogenetics combined with other neurophotonic strategies also offer an exciting path towards spatio-temporally-controlled targeting: projected patterns of light can be used to selectively and flexibly control and image activity patterns distributed across entire populations of neurons. When natural photoreception is disrupted, as in outerretinal degenerative diseases, stimulation of surviving nerve cells offers a potential strategy for bypassing compromised neural circuits, inspiring early development of optogenetic retinal prostheses. Selectively exciting large neural populations is essential for eliciting meaningful perceptions in the brain. Here, we present our recent work on distributed neuronal interfacing with large populations of optically accessible, optogenetically transduced neurons in two-dimensions (retinas) and three-dimensions (bioengineered brain-like `optonets´). Our results demonstrate that patterned computer-generated Holographic Optical Neural Stimulation (HONS) can achieve millisecond temporal precision and cellular resolution as a path towards simultaneously controlling populations of retinal ganglion cells, and that new adaptations of multiphoton temporal-focusing holography provides a powerful tool for distributed 3D imaging & control. HONS pattern projection combined with high resolution imaging provides a path towards all-optical bidirectional interfacing, and is also being translate towards in vivo applications.