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Updated: Jan 23, 2026

Behavioral Assays for Optogenetic Manipulation of Neural Circuits in Drosophila melanogaster
Published on: February 7, 2025
Thermal constraints on in vivo optogenetic manipulations
Scott F Owen1, Max H Liu2,3, Anatol C Kreitzer4,5,6,7,8
1Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Abstract:
A key assumption of optogenetics is that light only affects opsin-expressing neurons. However, illumination invariably heats tissue, and many physiological processes are temperature-sensitive. Commonly used illumination protocols increased the temperature by 0.2-2 °C and suppressed spiking in multiple brain regions. In the striatum, light delivery activated an inwardly rectifying potassium conductance and biased rotational behavior. Thus, careful consideration of light-delivery parameters is required, as even modest intracranial heating can confound interpretation of optogenetic experiments.
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