Ultraviolet acousto-optic laser scanner for fast, graded, multi-site photolysis of caged neurotransmitter to investigate dendritic integration

An acousto-optic scanner for a pulsed-UV laser has been developed to enable multi-site photolysis of caged neurotransmitter in user-defined spatio-temporal patterns. This overcomes a significant obstacle in the study of dendritic integration of non-sensory central neurons. Here, we report that the system has been extended to permit graded release of neurotransmitter at each stimulation site, and that the energy available for photolysis is sufficient to simulate a full range of physiological stimulus strengths.