Sculpted Light in the Brain Conference

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Project Summary Neuroscience has been revolutionized by the widespread adoption of two experimental methods: optogenetics, where light is used to control neural activity, and calcium imaging, where light is used to monitor neural activity. ‘Sculpted Light in the Brain’ refers to the optical process of changing the shape of light to be more useful for both imaging and stimulation purposes, and is a fundamental theme of this conference. With the advent of these approaches conventional electrical recording and stimulation tools are being progressively complemented and sometimes replaced by these light-based approaches. However, progress is still needed for these optical techniques to reach the speed, specificity, and range necessary to understand neural activity. This meeting is timely since this new generation of advanced light-based biological tools is fundamentally transforming how neuroscientists interrogate the nervous system, relying on the fusion of computational and optical methods with neuroscience. The success of the 2017 meeting highlights the timely nature of this topic. Sculpted Light in the Brain 2017 was originally designed as a brief (1 day) local conference at University of California at Berkeley. However, due to overwhelming interest as well as the engagement and commitment of the organizers, the 2017 meeting was rapidly expanded to 11 speakers (3 international) supported by funding from 14 entities. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and the conference was highlighted in Neurophotonics (Shanker et al 2017). The programs for the 2019 Sculpted Light in the Brain meeting was designed by an interdisciplinary, international committee guided by suggestions from the field. The organizers include 3 scientists from the 2017 organization committee, and 3 new members, including 2 women and 2 international representatives. This meeting will generate future collaboration opportunities by gathering established scientists and the next generation of researchers from the fields of optics, computer science, and neuroscience in a discussion focused on developing future light-based technologies that will enable real time communication with the living brain. This forward-looking unique new conference satisfies an urgent need in the scientific community that is currently completely unmet, since there are no other stand alone meetings directly dedicated to this rapidly growing scientific area.