DONGMIN's LAB
Optogenetics and Synthetic biology for Neuroscience

It is evident that the complex mental activity of humans occurs in the brain, and neurons play a central role in the cellular level. However, the mechanism by which the higher functions of the nervous system remains unclear. Although it seems that the functioning of the nervous system is precisely due to the enormous number of neurons and their network connections, paradoxically, this complexity is a real obstacle to analyzing and studying the function of the nervous system. Fortunately, each region of the brain corresponds to specific role in response to a single modality, and it is believed that there are a few neurons, called neuronal ensembles, that are strongly related to certain computation, learning, and behaviors (Josselyn, 2010). Therefore, if we can selectively label neuronal ensembles, we will be able to explore a new theory and findings in neuroscience research. We have developed new optogenetic technologies, called Cal-Light and iTango, for selectively labeling and controlling a small number of active neurons. We will use this information to conduct neural network analysis and brain function research to understand the brain.