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==Implications==
The specificity of temporal coding requires highly refined technology to create informative, reliable experimental data. In 2009, advances made in [[optogenetics]] allowed neurologists to control spikes in individual neurons, offering electrical and spatial single-cell resolution. For example, a [[channelrhodopsin]] in pond scum opens when it senses blue light, depolarizes the cell, and produces a spike. When blue light is not sensed, the channel closes, and the neuron ceases to spike. The pattern of the spikes matches the pattern of the blue light stimuli. By inserting channelrhodopsin DNA into mouse DNA, researchers can control spikes and therefore certain behaviors of the mouse (i.e., making the mouse turn left).<ref> Karl Diesseroth, Lecture. “Personal Growth Series: Karl Diesseroth on Cracking the Neural Code.” Google Tech Talks. November 21, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SLdSbp6VjM</ref> Researchers, through optogenetics, have the tools to effect different temporal codes in a neuron while maintaining the same mean firing rate, and thereby can test whether or not temporal coding occurs in specific neural circuits. <ref>Han X, Qian X, Stern P, Chuong AS, Boyden ES. “Informational lesions: optical perturbations of spike timing and neural synchrony via microbial opsin gene fusions.” Cambridge, MA: MIT Media Lad, 2009. PubMed.</ref>
This optogenetic technology has the potential to help researchers crack the neural code and enable the correction of spike abnormalities at the root of several neurological and psychological disorders.<ref>Han X, Qian X, Stern P, Chuong AS, Boyden ES. “Informational lesions: optical pertubatons of spike timing and neural synchrony via microbial opsin gene fusions.” Cambridge, MA: MIT Media Lad, 2009. PubMed.</ref> Researchers must not neglect the possibility that the neuron encodes information in individual spike timing, as key signals could be missed in attempting to crack the code looking only at mean firing-rates. Understanding any temporally encoded aspects of the neural code and being able to replicate these sequences in neurons could allow for greater control and treatment of depression and Parkinson’s.<ref> Karl Diesseroth, Lecture. “Personal Growth Series: Karl Diesseroth on Cracking the Neural Code.” Google Tech Talks. November 21, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SLdSbp6VjM</ref> Controlling the precise spikes intervals in single cells is much more effective in controlling brain activity than dumping chemicals and neurotransmitters intravenously. Such medical possibilities require scientists and communities to address the ethics of such tight control over the brain. While the benefits could be enormous, so could the abuses. However, understanding where the brain uses a temporal coding system is important and valuable for neuroscientists and patients alike.
==See also==
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