Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 4, 2026

Flypub To Study Ethanol Induced Behavioral Disinhibition and Sensitization
Published on: May 18, 2020
All-optical synaptic electrophysiology probes mechanism of ketamine-induced disinhibition
Linlin Z Fan1, Ralda Nehme2,3, Yoav Adam1
1Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Abstract:
Optical assays of synaptic strength could facilitate studies of neuronal transmission and its dysregulation in disease. Here we introduce a genetic toolbox for all-optical interrogation of synaptic electrophysiology (synOptopatch) via mutually exclusive expression of a channelrhodopsin actuator and an archaerhodopsin-derived voltage indicator. Optically induced activity in the channelrhodopsin-expressing neurons generated excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials that we optically resolved in reporter-expressing neurons. We further developed a yellow spine-targeted Ca2+ indicator to localize optogenetically triggered synaptic inputs. We demonstrated synOptopatch recordings in cultured rodent neurons and in acute rodent brain slice. In synOptopatch measurements of primary rodent cultures, acute ketamine administration suppressed disynaptic inhibitory feedbacks, mimicking the effect of this drug on network function in both rodents and humans. We localized this action of ketamine to excitatory synapses onto interneurons. These results establish an in vitro all-optical model of disynaptic disinhibition, a synaptic defect hypothesized in schizophrenia-associated psychosis.
Related Concept Videos
Synaptic Signaling
Synaptic Signaling
Most synapses are chemical, meaning an electrical impulse or action potential spurs the release of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. The neuron sending the signal is called the presynaptic neuron, and the neuron receiving the signal is the postsynaptic neuron.
The presynaptic neuron fires an action potential that...
Mechanisms of Retrovirus-induced Cancers
Integration of Synaptic Events
Reaction Mechanisms
For instance, the decomposition of ozone appears to follow a mechanism with two steps:
Mechanical Protein Functions

