Random-access laser-scanning optogenetics is a powerful and underutilized method for causally manipulating cortical activity in mice. This webinar will showcase ‘Zapit’, the first open-source general-purpose platform for random-access laser-scanning optogenetic experiments in head-fixed mice. Developed through a multi-lab collaboration together with the Advanced Microscope Facility at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, London, Zapit is fully documented, has a user-friendly GUI, works in stereotaxic coordinates, and comes with easy to build hardware options that extend functionality beyond any published system. Zapit’s performance has been validated through electrophysiological recordings using our silicon neural probes and cortical photoinhibition in behaving mice. Zapit is a novel and innovative tool with the potential to democratize laser-scanning optogenetics and significantly increase uptake throughout the scientific community.
Michael Lohse
Mrsic-Flogel Lab, Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, University College London, UK
Michael is a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow in Tom Mrsic-Flogel's lab, co-sponsored by Christian Machens at Champalimaud (Portugal) and Karl Deisseroth at Stanford University (USA). During his thesis research at University of Oxford with Andrew King - he studied the subcortical contribution to context-dependent auditory processing across the auditory system. Today, Michael is studying how representations of relevant sensory evidence are selected and transformed as they flow across the brain to guide actions, and how these transformations are gated by cognitive processes to select appropriate representations at the right time.