Conventional optogenetic manipulations to excite or inhibit neurons stop when the light switches off. A new approach makes the changes last.

The transplanted cells integrate into living animals’ neural circuitry and influence behavior.

Therapies that target the circuit could boost social activity, new findings suggest.

By coupling the tool — called SLEAP — with optogenetics, researchers can determine the neural circuits underlying social behaviors.

A 3D optogenetics method can mimic natural rhythms of neural activity, rendering previously unanswerable questions amenable to inquiry — including questions about autism.

The new method, called sonogenetics, noninvasively manipulates neural circuits in mice.

Ethan Scott packs his lab with math, physics and computer science experts to decode sensory brain networks in zebrafish models of autism.

When Yizhar isn’t building new tools to study the neural circuits underlying autism and other complex conditions, you can find him playing the piano, shooting photographs or taking long runs in the desert.

A new technique can reveal where thousands of neurons send their axons — and measure the cells’ RNA levels for dozens of genes at the same time — in the mouse brain. It could be used to profile neural circuits underlying autism.

Thanks to a new engineered protein for optogenetics experiments, researchers can stimulate neurons with less light than usual and avoid damaging brain tissue.