"Scientists first detected electrical “brain waves” a century ago, but seeing large-scale patterns of these neural oscillations has remained a challenge. Now, researchers have developed an optical technique for capturing these waves up to frequencies of roughly 100 Hz.
The technique, dubbed TEMPO (for “trans-membrane electrical measurements performed optically”), incorporates an optical-fiber sensor that can detect electrical activity in the brains of mice while they are awake and moving, rather than sedated (Cell, doi:10.1016/j.cell.2025.06.028). TEMPO also uses an optical “mesoscope,” an imaging device with a wide field of view and high spatial resolution. “This technology allows us to look at multiple brain areas at once and see the brain waves sweeping across the cortex with cell-type specificity,”(...)."
"The Stanford researchers say their illumination is roughly 10 times more stable than existing voltage-sensing photometry systems. This type of stability is key to picking up the signals from genetically encoded voltage indicators (GEVIs), or proteins that fluoresce in response to voltage differences across cell membranes."
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