Adam Cohen (Harvard / HHMI): Visualizing Activity in the Brain

Adam Cohen discusses using fluorescent transmembrane proteins to visualize electrical signals propagating through neuronal networks in intact brains.

ibiology.org/neuroscience/visualizing-activity-in-the-brain/ Talk Overview: The pattern of electrical signals propagated through neuronal networks determines brain function. Adam Cohen examines the possibility of visualizing these signals inside an intact brain using fluorescent transmembrane proteins that are sensitive to voltage. Cohen discusses the barriers to this approach, something he predicts scientists across disciplines will eventually overcome. Speaker Biography: Adam Cohen is Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Physics at Harvard University and Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He develops biological tools and analytical approaches to investigate the behaviors of molecules and cells in vitro and in vivo. His lab merges protein engineering, optics, and physics, among other disciplines, on a variety of projects. For example, they have developed a fluorescent transmembrane protein that detects membrane voltage, which is useful in visualizing electrical activity in cells, such as cultured neurons.