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This open access volume provides an overview of the latest methods used to study neuronal function with all-optical experimental approaches, where light is used for both stimulation and monitoring of neuronal activity. The chapters in this book cover topics over a broad range, from fundamental background information in both physiology and optics in the context of all-optical neurophysiology experiments, to the design principles and hardware implementation of optical methods used for photoactivation and imaging. In the Neuromethods series style, chapters include the kind of detail and key advice from the specialists needed to get successful results in your laboratory. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, All-Optical Methods to Study Neuronal Function is a valuable resource for researchers in various disciplines such as physics, engineering, and neuroscience. This book will serve as a guide to establish useful references for groups starting out in this field, and provide insight on the optical systems, actuators, and sensors. This is an open access book.
Book Synopsis All-Optical Methods to Study Neuronal Function by : Eirini Papagiakoumou
Download or read book All-Optical Methods to Study Neuronal Function written by Eirini Papagiakoumou and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-02-20 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access volume provides an overview of the latest methods used to study neuronal function with all-optical experimental approaches, where light is used for both stimulation and monitoring of neuronal activity. The chapters in this book cover topics over a broad range, from fundamental background information in both physiology and optics in the context of all-optical neurophysiology experiments, to the design principles and hardware implementation of optical methods used for photoactivation and imaging. In the Neuromethods series style, chapters include the kind of detail and key advice from the specialists needed to get successful results in your laboratory. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, All-Optical Methods to Study Neuronal Function is a valuable resource for researchers in various disciplines such as physics, engineering, and neuroscience. This book will serve as a guide to establish useful references for groups starting out in this field, and provide insight on the optical systems, actuators, and sensors. This is an open access book.
These are exciting times for the field of optical imaging of brain function. Rapid developments in theory and technology continue to considerably advance understanding of brain function. Reflecting changes in the field during the past five years, the second edition of In Vivo Optical Imaging of Brain Function describes state-of-the-art techniques a
Book Synopsis In Vivo Optical Imaging of Brain Function by : Ron D. Frostig
Download or read book In Vivo Optical Imaging of Brain Function written by Ron D. Frostig and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2009-05-06 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These are exciting times for the field of optical imaging of brain function. Rapid developments in theory and technology continue to considerably advance understanding of brain function. Reflecting changes in the field during the past five years, the second edition of In Vivo Optical Imaging of Brain Function describes state-of-the-art techniques a
These are exciting times for the field of optical imaging of brain function. Rapid developments in theory and technology continue to considerably advance understanding of brain function. Reflecting changes in the field during the past five years, the second edition of In Vivo Optical Imaging of Brain Function describes state-of-the-art techniques and their applications for the growing field of functional imaging in the live brain using optical imaging techniques. New in the Second Edition: Voltage-sensitive dyes imaging in awake behaving animals Imaging based on genetically encoded probes Imaging of mitochondrial auto-fluorescence as a tool for cortical mapping Using pH-sensitive dyes for functional mapping Modulated imaging Calcium imaging of neuronal activity using 2-photon microscopy Fourier approach to optical imaging Fully updated chapters from the first edition Leading Authorities Explore the Latest Techniques Updated to reflect continuous development in this emerging research area, this new edition, as with the original, reaches across disciplines to review a variety of non-invasive optical techniques used to study activity in the living brain. Leading authorities from such diverse areas as biophysics, neuroscience, and cognitive science present a host of perspectives that range from a single neuron to large assemblies of millions of neurons, captured at various temporal and spatial resolutions. Introducing techniques that were not available just a few years ago, the authors describe the theory, setup, analytical methods, and examples that highlight the advantages of each particular method.
Book Synopsis In Vivo Optical Imaging of Brain Function by : Ron D. Frostig
Download or read book In Vivo Optical Imaging of Brain Function written by Ron D. Frostig and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2019-08-30 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These are exciting times for the field of optical imaging of brain function. Rapid developments in theory and technology continue to considerably advance understanding of brain function. Reflecting changes in the field during the past five years, the second edition of In Vivo Optical Imaging of Brain Function describes state-of-the-art techniques and their applications for the growing field of functional imaging in the live brain using optical imaging techniques. New in the Second Edition: Voltage-sensitive dyes imaging in awake behaving animals Imaging based on genetically encoded probes Imaging of mitochondrial auto-fluorescence as a tool for cortical mapping Using pH-sensitive dyes for functional mapping Modulated imaging Calcium imaging of neuronal activity using 2-photon microscopy Fourier approach to optical imaging Fully updated chapters from the first edition Leading Authorities Explore the Latest Techniques Updated to reflect continuous development in this emerging research area, this new edition, as with the original, reaches across disciplines to review a variety of non-invasive optical techniques used to study activity in the living brain. Leading authorities from such diverse areas as biophysics, neuroscience, and cognitive science present a host of perspectives that range from a single neuron to large assemblies of millions of neurons, captured at various temporal and spatial resolutions. Introducing techniques that were not available just a few years ago, the authors describe the theory, setup, analytical methods, and examples that highlight the advantages of each particular method.
This book offers representative examples from fly and mouse models to illustrate the ongoing success of the synergistic, state-of-the-art strategy, focusing on the ways it enhances our understanding of sensory processing. The authors focus on sensory systems (vision, olfaction), which are particularly powerful models for probing the development, connectivity, and function of neural circuits, to answer this question: How do individual nerve cells functionally cooperate to guide behavioral responses? Two genetically tractable species, mice and flies, together significantly further our understanding of these processes. Current efforts focus on integrating knowledge gained from three interrelated fields of research: (1) understanding how the fates of different cell types are specified during development, (2) revealing the synaptic connections between identified cell types (“connectomics”) using high-resolution three-dimensional circuit anatomy, and (3) causal testing of how iden tified circuit elements contribute to visual perception and behavior.
Book Synopsis Decoding Neural Circuit Structure and Function by : Arzu Çelik
Download or read book Decoding Neural Circuit Structure and Function written by Arzu Çelik and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-07-24 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers representative examples from fly and mouse models to illustrate the ongoing success of the synergistic, state-of-the-art strategy, focusing on the ways it enhances our understanding of sensory processing. The authors focus on sensory systems (vision, olfaction), which are particularly powerful models for probing the development, connectivity, and function of neural circuits, to answer this question: How do individual nerve cells functionally cooperate to guide behavioral responses? Two genetically tractable species, mice and flies, together significantly further our understanding of these processes. Current efforts focus on integrating knowledge gained from three interrelated fields of research: (1) understanding how the fates of different cell types are specified during development, (2) revealing the synaptic connections between identified cell types (“connectomics”) using high-resolution three-dimensional circuit anatomy, and (3) causal testing of how iden tified circuit elements contribute to visual perception and behavior.
Photochemical control of neuronal activity: methods and clinical application by Ivan Tochitsky Doctor of Philosophy in Molecular and Cell Biology University of California, Berkeley Professor Richard Kramer, Chair Mammalian nervous systems are incredibly complex, with almost 100 billion neurons making up the human brain. Neurons in the brain primarily communicate with one another in one of two ways - electrically, via the flow of ions across the cell membrane, or chemically by releasing and detecting a variety of signaling molecules. In order to understand the function of the nervous system, we need to be able to manipulate it with high spatial and temporal precision. Conventional electrical or chemical stimuli do not allow for such precise control. Thus, a new and orthogonal stimulus modality had to be utilized in order to facilitate the study of the nervous system. The emerging field of optogenetics uses light as such a stimulus since light can be delivered only to a small part of the nervous system, or even a single neuron, and the illumination can be controlled with millisecond time resolution. Optogenetic techniques involve the expression of light-sensitive proteins from microbes in genetically targeted populations of neurons, rendering those neurons sensitive to light. Recent advances in optogenetics have greatly advanced our understanding of the function of the nervous system both in healthy organisms, and in the context of disease. Optogenetics is a powerful technique for investigating neural networks, but this approach primarily studies the function of the nervous system at a system rather than molecular level. The vast complexity of the human brain is created not only by the large number of individual neurons and the intricate connections between them, but also by the dizzying variety of proteins found in the cell membranes of these neurons. These proteins sense and respond to the release of chemical signaling molecules from neighboring cells, or changes in ion concentrations that alter the cell's membrane potential, allowing for the generation and propagation of electrical signals. We have combined the powers of synthetic chemistry and genetics to develop novel optopharmacological or optochemical genetic methods which enable precise optical control of neuronal function at the molecular level. These strategies involves the generation of light-sensitive "photoswitch" molecules that selectively target a population of either genetically engineered or endogenous membrane proteins - including receptors sensing chemical stimuli, or ion channels responding to electrical potential changes in the cell. The addition of a photoswitch compound to a neuron expressing the target protein makes that protein, and, by extension, the neuron, sensitive to light. We first applied this strategy to generate light regulated neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, which are a group of proteins that respond to the chemical neurotransmitter acetylcholine. These receptors modulate the activity of other neurons in different parts of the brain and are also sensitive to nicotine, an addictive chemical found in tobacco products. The function of acetylcholine receptors in the brain and their role in nicotine addiction, neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders is not fully understood, in large part because it quite difficult to chemically manipulate individual receptors without affecting others. Making light-sensitive, genetically targeted acetylcholine receptors should thus greatly advance our understanding of those receptors' function. The main rationale for making proteins or neurons light-sensitive is to facilitate the study of the healthy nervous system as well as its malfunction in disease. There are, however, several human diseases where optical methods for controlling neuronal activity could directly provide a clinical benefit. Degenerative blinding diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa or age-related macular degeneration leave the retinas of affected patients either partly or completely insensitive to light by causing the death of light-detecting photoreceptor cells in the eye. Light responses can be restored to a blind retina by making some or all of the remaining retinal neurons sensitive to light. This can be achieved via the expression of light sensitive microbial opsins or engineered receptors in retinal neurons that are not normally light sensitive. Both of these approaches have restored some visual perception to blind mice suffering from retinitis pigmentosa. However, in order to use either optogenetic or optochemical genetic tools in the clinic, the mutant proteins must be artificially expressed in the patient's retina, which requires the use of viral gene therapy. Gene therapy has potential health risks, so we decided to develop a treatment for blinding diseases that would only involve a light-sensitive chemical, without the need for gene therapy or invasive surgery. To that end, we have developed an optopharmacological therapy for vision restoration by creating photoswitch molecules that block and unblock endogenous voltage-gated ion channels in a light-dependent manner, allowing us to control almost any neuron with light. The first photoswitch tested, called AAQ, restored electrical retinal light responses, the pupillary light reflex, as well as other simple visual behaviors in blind mice. In order to optimize this treatment for clinical use, we generated a compound called DENAQ with improved light sensitivity and persistence in the eye, which responds to broad spectrum white light, similar to what people encounter in natural visual scenes. Furthermore, DENAQ acts selectively on retinas suffering from photoreceptor cell death, but leaves healthy retinas unaffected. This selectivity raises the possibility that we may be able to treat not only patients who are completely blind, but also those suffering from partial vision loss, by restoring light sensitivity only to the parts of the retina experiencing photoreceptor degeneration. The promising preliminary results from animal studies suggest that our optopharmacological strategy for vision restoration may eventually be used in the clinic, in addition to helping researchers understand the function of the nervous system in its normal state and in disease.
Book Synopsis Photochemical Control of Neuronal Activity by : Ivan Tochitsky
Download or read book Photochemical Control of Neuronal Activity written by Ivan Tochitsky and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Photochemical control of neuronal activity: methods and clinical application by Ivan Tochitsky Doctor of Philosophy in Molecular and Cell Biology University of California, Berkeley Professor Richard Kramer, Chair Mammalian nervous systems are incredibly complex, with almost 100 billion neurons making up the human brain. Neurons in the brain primarily communicate with one another in one of two ways - electrically, via the flow of ions across the cell membrane, or chemically by releasing and detecting a variety of signaling molecules. In order to understand the function of the nervous system, we need to be able to manipulate it with high spatial and temporal precision. Conventional electrical or chemical stimuli do not allow for such precise control. Thus, a new and orthogonal stimulus modality had to be utilized in order to facilitate the study of the nervous system. The emerging field of optogenetics uses light as such a stimulus since light can be delivered only to a small part of the nervous system, or even a single neuron, and the illumination can be controlled with millisecond time resolution. Optogenetic techniques involve the expression of light-sensitive proteins from microbes in genetically targeted populations of neurons, rendering those neurons sensitive to light. Recent advances in optogenetics have greatly advanced our understanding of the function of the nervous system both in healthy organisms, and in the context of disease. Optogenetics is a powerful technique for investigating neural networks, but this approach primarily studies the function of the nervous system at a system rather than molecular level. The vast complexity of the human brain is created not only by the large number of individual neurons and the intricate connections between them, but also by the dizzying variety of proteins found in the cell membranes of these neurons. These proteins sense and respond to the release of chemical signaling molecules from neighboring cells, or changes in ion concentrations that alter the cell's membrane potential, allowing for the generation and propagation of electrical signals. We have combined the powers of synthetic chemistry and genetics to develop novel optopharmacological or optochemical genetic methods which enable precise optical control of neuronal function at the molecular level. These strategies involves the generation of light-sensitive "photoswitch" molecules that selectively target a population of either genetically engineered or endogenous membrane proteins - including receptors sensing chemical stimuli, or ion channels responding to electrical potential changes in the cell. The addition of a photoswitch compound to a neuron expressing the target protein makes that protein, and, by extension, the neuron, sensitive to light. We first applied this strategy to generate light regulated neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, which are a group of proteins that respond to the chemical neurotransmitter acetylcholine. These receptors modulate the activity of other neurons in different parts of the brain and are also sensitive to nicotine, an addictive chemical found in tobacco products. The function of acetylcholine receptors in the brain and their role in nicotine addiction, neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders is not fully understood, in large part because it quite difficult to chemically manipulate individual receptors without affecting others. Making light-sensitive, genetically targeted acetylcholine receptors should thus greatly advance our understanding of those receptors' function. The main rationale for making proteins or neurons light-sensitive is to facilitate the study of the healthy nervous system as well as its malfunction in disease. There are, however, several human diseases where optical methods for controlling neuronal activity could directly provide a clinical benefit. Degenerative blinding diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa or age-related macular degeneration leave the retinas of affected patients either partly or completely insensitive to light by causing the death of light-detecting photoreceptor cells in the eye. Light responses can be restored to a blind retina by making some or all of the remaining retinal neurons sensitive to light. This can be achieved via the expression of light sensitive microbial opsins or engineered receptors in retinal neurons that are not normally light sensitive. Both of these approaches have restored some visual perception to blind mice suffering from retinitis pigmentosa. However, in order to use either optogenetic or optochemical genetic tools in the clinic, the mutant proteins must be artificially expressed in the patient's retina, which requires the use of viral gene therapy. Gene therapy has potential health risks, so we decided to develop a treatment for blinding diseases that would only involve a light-sensitive chemical, without the need for gene therapy or invasive surgery. To that end, we have developed an optopharmacological therapy for vision restoration by creating photoswitch molecules that block and unblock endogenous voltage-gated ion channels in a light-dependent manner, allowing us to control almost any neuron with light. The first photoswitch tested, called AAQ, restored electrical retinal light responses, the pupillary light reflex, as well as other simple visual behaviors in blind mice. In order to optimize this treatment for clinical use, we generated a compound called DENAQ with improved light sensitivity and persistence in the eye, which responds to broad spectrum white light, similar to what people encounter in natural visual scenes. Furthermore, DENAQ acts selectively on retinas suffering from photoreceptor cell death, but leaves healthy retinas unaffected. This selectivity raises the possibility that we may be able to treat not only patients who are completely blind, but also those suffering from partial vision loss, by restoring light sensitivity only to the parts of the retina experiencing photoreceptor degeneration. The promising preliminary results from animal studies suggest that our optopharmacological strategy for vision restoration may eventually be used in the clinic, in addition to helping researchers understand the function of the nervous system in its normal state and in disease.
Basic Electrophysiological Methods provides a concise and easy-to-read guide on a selection of the most important contemporary electrophysiological techniques, their implementation, applications, and ways in which they can be combined and integrated with neuroscientific techniques. Intended for students, postdocs, and faculty with a basic neuroscience background, this text will not obscure the relevant technical details with textbook neuroscience tutorials as many other books do. Instead, each chapter provides a conscientious overview of the underlying theory -- a comprehensive description of equipment, materials, methods, data management, and analysis -- a troubleshooting guide, and a list of frequently asked questions. No book or online resource can function as strictly a DIY set of instructions on how to implement a complex technique. However, this book provides a fundamental and accessible set of information intended to form a foundation prior to, during, and after hands-on experience and training, greatly facilitating the initial learning process and subsequent fine-tuning of technical details.
Book Synopsis Basic Electrophysiological Methods by : Ellen Covey
Download or read book Basic Electrophysiological Methods written by Ellen Covey and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015-02-25 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Basic Electrophysiological Methods provides a concise and easy-to-read guide on a selection of the most important contemporary electrophysiological techniques, their implementation, applications, and ways in which they can be combined and integrated with neuroscientific techniques. Intended for students, postdocs, and faculty with a basic neuroscience background, this text will not obscure the relevant technical details with textbook neuroscience tutorials as many other books do. Instead, each chapter provides a conscientious overview of the underlying theory -- a comprehensive description of equipment, materials, methods, data management, and analysis -- a troubleshooting guide, and a list of frequently asked questions. No book or online resource can function as strictly a DIY set of instructions on how to implement a complex technique. However, this book provides a fundamental and accessible set of information intended to form a foundation prior to, during, and after hands-on experience and training, greatly facilitating the initial learning process and subsequent fine-tuning of technical details.
Edited and authored by a wealth of international experts in neuroscience and related disciplines, this key new resource aims to offer medical students and graduate researchers around the world a comprehensive introduction and overview of modern neuroscience. Neuroscience research is certain to prove a vital element in combating mental illness in its various incarnations, a strategic battleground in the future of medicine, as the prevalence of mental disorders is becoming better understood each year. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide are affected by mental, behavioral, neurological and substance use disorders. The World Health Organization estimated in 2002 that 154 million people globally suffer from depression and 25 million people from schizophrenia; 91 million people are affected by alcohol use disorders and 15 million by drug use disorders. A more recent WHO report shows that 50 million people suffer from epilepsy and 24 million from Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Because neuroscience takes the etiology of disease—the complex interplay between biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors—as its object of inquiry, it is increasingly valuable in understanding an array of medical conditions. A recent report by the United States’ Surgeon General cites several such diseases: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, early-onset depression, autism, attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder, anorexia nervosa, and panic disorder, among many others. Not only is this volume a boon to those wishing to understand the future of neuroscience, it also aims to encourage the initiation of neuroscience programs in developing countries, featuring as it does an appendix full of advice on how to develop such programs. With broad coverage of both basic science and clinical issues, comprising around 150 chapters from a diversity of international authors and including complementary video components, Neuroscience in the 21st Century in its second edition serves as a comprehensive resource to students and researchers alike.
Book Synopsis Neuroscience in the 21st Century by : Donald W. Pfaff
Download or read book Neuroscience in the 21st Century written by Donald W. Pfaff and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-10-27 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Edited and authored by a wealth of international experts in neuroscience and related disciplines, this key new resource aims to offer medical students and graduate researchers around the world a comprehensive introduction and overview of modern neuroscience. Neuroscience research is certain to prove a vital element in combating mental illness in its various incarnations, a strategic battleground in the future of medicine, as the prevalence of mental disorders is becoming better understood each year. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide are affected by mental, behavioral, neurological and substance use disorders. The World Health Organization estimated in 2002 that 154 million people globally suffer from depression and 25 million people from schizophrenia; 91 million people are affected by alcohol use disorders and 15 million by drug use disorders. A more recent WHO report shows that 50 million people suffer from epilepsy and 24 million from Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Because neuroscience takes the etiology of disease—the complex interplay between biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors—as its object of inquiry, it is increasingly valuable in understanding an array of medical conditions. A recent report by the United States’ Surgeon General cites several such diseases: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, early-onset depression, autism, attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder, anorexia nervosa, and panic disorder, among many others. Not only is this volume a boon to those wishing to understand the future of neuroscience, it also aims to encourage the initiation of neuroscience programs in developing countries, featuring as it does an appendix full of advice on how to develop such programs. With broad coverage of both basic science and clinical issues, comprising around 150 chapters from a diversity of international authors and including complementary video components, Neuroscience in the 21st Century in its second edition serves as a comprehensive resource to students and researchers alike.
Book Synopsis New Insights on Neuron and Astrocyte Function from Cutting-Edge Optical Techniques by : Srdjan D. Antic
Download or read book New Insights on Neuron and Astrocyte Function from Cutting-Edge Optical Techniques written by Srdjan D. Antic and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2020-01-06 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
The major advantage of in vivo optical techniques is the ability to study many levels of function of the CNS that are inaccessible by other methods. This rapidly expanding field is multidisciplinary in nature and findings have thus far been scattered throughout the literature. In Vivo Optical Imaging of Brain Function reviews the wide varie
Book Synopsis In Vivo Optical Imaging of Brain Function by : Ron Frostig
Download or read book In Vivo Optical Imaging of Brain Function written by Ron Frostig and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2002-05-15 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The major advantage of in vivo optical techniques is the ability to study many levels of function of the CNS that are inaccessible by other methods. This rapidly expanding field is multidisciplinary in nature and findings have thus far been scattered throughout the literature. In Vivo Optical Imaging of Brain Function reviews the wide varie
Monitoring brain function with light in vivo has become a reality. The technology 33 of detecting and interpreting patterns of reflected light has reached a degree of 34 maturity that now permits high spatial and temporal resolution visualization at both 35 the systems and cellular levels. There now exist several optical imaging methodolo- 36 gies, based on either hemodynamic changes in nervous tissue or neurally induced 37 light scattering changes, that can be used to measure ongoing activity in the brain. 38 These include the techniques of intrinsic signal optical imaging, near-infrared optical 39 imaging, fast optical imaging based on scattered light, optical imaging with voltage 40 sensitive dyes, and two-photon imaging of hemodynamic signals. The purpose of 41 this volume is to capture some of the latest applications of these methodologies to 42 the study of cerebral cortical function. 43 This volume begins with an overview and history of optical imaging and its use 44 in the study of brain function. Several chapters are devoted to the method of intrin- 45 sic signal optical imaging, a method used to record the minute changes in optical 46 absorption due to hemodynamic changes that accompanies cortical activity. Since the 47 detected hemodynamic changes are highly localized, this method has excellent 48 spatial resolution (50–100 μm ), a resolution sufficient for visualization of fundamen- 49 tal modules of cerebral cortical function.
Book Synopsis Imaging the Brain with Optical Methods by : Anna W. Roe
Download or read book Imaging the Brain with Optical Methods written by Anna W. Roe and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-11-11 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Monitoring brain function with light in vivo has become a reality. The technology 33 of detecting and interpreting patterns of reflected light has reached a degree of 34 maturity that now permits high spatial and temporal resolution visualization at both 35 the systems and cellular levels. There now exist several optical imaging methodolo- 36 gies, based on either hemodynamic changes in nervous tissue or neurally induced 37 light scattering changes, that can be used to measure ongoing activity in the brain. 38 These include the techniques of intrinsic signal optical imaging, near-infrared optical 39 imaging, fast optical imaging based on scattered light, optical imaging with voltage 40 sensitive dyes, and two-photon imaging of hemodynamic signals. The purpose of 41 this volume is to capture some of the latest applications of these methodologies to 42 the study of cerebral cortical function. 43 This volume begins with an overview and history of optical imaging and its use 44 in the study of brain function. Several chapters are devoted to the method of intrin- 45 sic signal optical imaging, a method used to record the minute changes in optical 46 absorption due to hemodynamic changes that accompanies cortical activity. Since the 47 detected hemodynamic changes are highly localized, this method has excellent 48 spatial resolution (50–100 μm ), a resolution sufficient for visualization of fundamen- 49 tal modules of cerebral cortical function.