Dr. Lind is the Associate Director of the Opto core which helps preclinical research labs working with rodents to use specialized techniques called photometry, optogenetics, and chemogenetics. These techniques allow researchers to either measure the activity in targeted neural circuits in the brain or to control it with light or chemicals.
The brain is so complex with many different cell types and pathways that are engaged at different times. The techniques the core uses helps labs read out or control neural activity in a precise, fast, and reversible way. For example, we can detect activity in targeted cell populations during a certain behavior and then mimic that activity to drive that behavior or block that activity to stop that behavior. The ability to do this in real time is powerful as it really helps us to prove cause and effect relationships. This technique can be also used to study just about anything, from learning and memory to cardiac function to disease states like addiction and spinal cord injury. Dr. Lind gets to work with so many different labs with different research interests, which is super interesting and it’s a great feeling to be able to help advance such a wide variety of research.
The better we can understand how the brain works, the better chance we have to develop treatments that can help people with brain-related disorders. While the techniques Dr. Lind works with are focused on solving the brain’s puzzles in animal models, this work can also help us discover new circuits, better timing windows, and better stimulation approaches. This can in turn help to improve neuromodulation treatment approaches already being used in humans like deep brain stimulation, transmagnetic stimulation, or focused ultrasound.
The techniques she works with wouldn’t be possible without the collaboration of so many scientists across multiple fields of study – research from microbiology, cell biology, neuroscience, genetics, optical physics, mechanical engineering, software engineering, and veterinary science all contributed to these technological advancements. These advancements also wouldn’t be possible without a society that supports scientists and believes in the value of scientific research.
