Overview

• The team created a fiber optic sensor with tenfold increased sensitivity alongside an optical mesoscope that images eight millimeters of cortex at cell-type resolution.
• Genetically encoded voltage indicators allow the instruments to record real-time neuronal voltage dynamics across the mouse neocortex during natural behavior.
• Researchers observed two beta waves traveling at right angles and a theta wave moving bidirectionally—phenomena not captured by traditional electrode methods.
• The technology opens the door to dissecting abnormal wave patterns implicated in Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, and schizophrenia at the level of specific neuron classes.
• Ongoing work will apply these imaging advances to unravel disease mechanisms and guide the development of bio-inspired artificial intelligence models based on traveling wave dynamics.