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In the new study, Oka and a team of colleagues at Columbia University used a technique called optogenetics to pinpoint the origin of thirst impulses in the brains of mice. The researchers injected the mouse brains with a virus that made certain cells sensitive to laser light, and when scientists shone the laser on those cells, it caused them to turn nerve impulses "on" or "off."
The team targeted neurons in a structure called the subfornical organ (SFO), which is known to be active when a mouse is dehydrated. "The SFO is a sort of sensor in the brain," Oka said. The researchers also chose this region because it lies outside the blood-brain barrier, a highly selective membrane that keeps the blood separate from the fluid surrounding the brain and the spinal cord. This made it easier to inject the virus into the neurons to make them sensitive to light.
Previous studies had used small electrical shocks to activate this region, but that method makes it impossible to pinpoint the individual neurons involved in thirst.
Using optogenetics, Oka and his colleagues identified two distinct populations of cells involved in thirst. When the scientists shone the laser on one set of cells, the mice drank voraciously, even if the animals weren't thirsty before. When the researchers shone laser light on the other set of neurons, mice that were thirsty immediately stopped drinking.
originally posted by: lostbook
Furhtermore, if light can be used to turn on or off certain parts of a mouse's brain then what about human brains? I think we need to keep our eye(s) on this one...What says ATS?
originally posted by: rickymouse
Now that they have identified the region of the brain that effects thirst, maybe they can identify what additive food chemicals are causing us to drink too much water and raise our BP too high. Why not do that instead of making medications to treat the problems we are having. The FDA could ban the chemistry that messes things up.
Oh yeah, that would cut into profits of big Pharma. Can't be doing that, they wouldn't be able to bribe anyone. Oh yeah, it isn't bribing, it is contributing to campaigns and paying fines to help support the FDA. I forgot how it works for a second.