High-resolution bidirectional optical-acoustic mesoscopic neural interface for image-guided neuromodulation in behaving animals - Diversity Supplement - ABSTRACT
Acoustic technologies such as optoacoustic (OA) imaging and ultrasound neuromodulation (USNM) are
poised to revolutionize deep tissue, high-resolution, large-scale, in vivo imaging and neurostimulation in
mammalian organisms. These advances are enabled by the high tissue penetrability of ultrasound (US)
waves, and present untapped and exciting opportunities for accessing structures throughout the mammalian
brain for precise control and measurement of neural activity. We have recently introduced hybrid tools for
parallel OA imaging with GCaMP-type indicators and US neuromodulation in the cortex in vivo. Despite these
advances, improvements in the spatial resolution, as well as the capability to make full use of the deep-tissue
access afforded by these modalities, are highly desirable. We propose to undertake technological
developments designed to optimize these methods for cellular resolution, deep-tissue functional imaging and
neurostimulation, through both optimization of hardware and ‘wet-ware’, such as near-infrared (NIR)
functional probes. These developments to optimize functional OA signals will enable imaging of neural activity
at tissue depths that far exceed those accessible with optical techniques alone. The new framework will then
be applied and tested in the mouse olfactory system, whose spatial-temporal scale of neural activity is well
matched to that of the proposed technique, and which will significantly benefit from a combined imaging and
perturbation strategy for linking large-scale odor-evoked neural activity in the olfactory bulb to mouse
behavior.
