Semaine du Cerveau 2026 – conference and lab visit : “Enlightening the mind: optogenetics at the service of brain research”

Lecture and tour of the neural imaging laboratory

Neural circuits exhibit complex spatiotemporal patterns of activity during behavior. Understanding how these patterns of activity determine behavior is a fundamental problem in neuroscience and remains a major challenge due to the complexity of spatiotemporal dynamics and difficulties in access. The ability to measure and manipulate activity in genetically defined sets of neurons using optogenetics has provided a powerful new tool for establishing causal links between neural activity and behavior.

During the conference and lab visit, we will discuss optical approaches that allow the measurement of neural activity and the manipulation of the same neurons. This approach allows activity in neural circuits to be read and written with cellular resolution during behavior. We will describe the power, limitations, and potential of this approach, and discuss how it can be used to solve many important problems in neuroscience, including how this research can be transformed to inform therapies for neural disorders.

• Location: Saints-Pères Paris Institute for the Neurosciences, SPPIN, CNRS UMR 8003, Université Paris Cité
• Venue:  45 rue des Saints Pères,  3rd floor, room E368, 75006 Paris
• Schedule: Time slots are available on both days, Friday and Saturday, March 20 and 21.
  • Friday, March 20, 10:00 a.m.; 11:30 a.m.; 2:00 p.m.; 3:30 p.m.
  • Saturday, March 21, 10:00 a.m.; 11:30 a.m.; 2:00 p.m.; 3:30 p.m.