LEDs and Lasers Battle for Dominance in Brain Research

Lighting up the brain to better understand, treat or even cure brain disorders has become an established field known as optogenetics. First introduced in 2005 by professor Karl Deisseroth as he worked in a small laboratory at Stanford University, it has since been named Method of the Year by the journal Nature and is today one of the most promising tools making contributions to the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative — part of a new federal focus aimed at producing a dynamic picture of the brain.