Optogenetics: Revolutionizing Neuroscience

When you look at other species asides from humans, you begin to notice a general trend amongst between males and females of the population. The females tend to be the ones who care for their offspring after mating, while the males play little or no role in being a parent.

An article posted on Phys.org talks about a research finding showing the relationship between the brain and parental behavior in males and females. In order to do this, researchers chose to focus on specific neurons in the hypothalamus that express tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). TH is essential for the production of dopamine. They noticed that not only were there more TH neurons in mothers compared to virgin females or males, but they had different affects on males and females.

In one of the first few weeks of class, we read about and listened to a discussion on the field of optogenetics. We talked about how the use of optogenetics has opened up many doors in neuroscience and has given us more control when working with complex neural tissues. This article, which was published just last week, is a perfect example of how optogenetics has given scientists more control in their work.

Using optogenetic activation, researchers were able to increase the TH levels in female. And remarkably, within a few minutes, the female mouse went to carry her a pup back to her nest. Increasing the TH levels also showed an increase in oxytocin, a hormone dealing with female reproduction behavior. When the same tactic was tried on male mice, there was no change in patient behavior or oxytocin levels.

The findings show a possibility that the neuronal networks in the brains of males and females can function differently especially in gender-related activities. More importantly, it has shown how researchers were able to manipulate paternal behavior by optogenetics. It is amazing to watch the application of newly discovered scientific technology and methods leading to insightful discoveries like this one.

Works Cited

 How to manipulate the brain to control maternal behavior in females and reduce aggression in males. (2015, October 7). Retrieved October 17, 2015, from http://phys.org/news/2015-10-brain-maternal-behavior-females-aggression.html