Multimedia Gallery
Turning off brain cells with colored light may lead to treatments for Parkinson's disease.
Neuroscientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., recently developed a way to turn off abnormally active brain cells using multiple colors of light. This research could prove useful for managing disorders including chronic pain, epilepsy, brain injury and Parkinson's disease.
The brain mapping in this image represents collaboration between neuroscientists and experts in math, statistics, computer science, bioinformatics, imaging and nanotechnology.
Credit: Arthur Toga, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine
Images credited to the National Science Foundation, a federal agency, are in the public domain. The images were created by employees of the United States Government as part of their official duties or prepared by contractors as "works for hire" for NSF. You may freely use NSF-credited images and, at your discretion, credit NSF with a "Courtesy: National Science Foundation" notation.
Additional information about general usage can be found in Conditions.
Also Available:
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (603 KB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.
Related story: Silencing Brain Cells with Yellow and Blue Light