Multiphoton Microscopy Researchers Advance Neuroscience with Optogenetics

Optogenetics is continuing to revolutionize neuroscience by enabling researchers to use different wavelengths of light to turn specific cells on and off, providing a more precise understanding of neural circuit function and behavior.

In October, Karl Deisseroth (Stanford University and The Howard Hughes Medical Institute), Peter Hegemann (Humboldt University of Berlin), and Georg Nagel (University of Würzburg) were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2026 for their discoveries on light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.

Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel discovered channelrhodopsin, a protein found in the single-celled alga Chlamydomonas, while Karl Deisseroth established how to make the protein into a light-controlled switch for nerve cells. Karl is a long-time collaborator with Bruker, with his first Ultima systems being installed in his Stanford lab in 2007. These systems had a 488 nm laser piped in on the uncaging path for photoactivation experiments, and his lab’s contributions helped lead to the creation of Bruker’s innovative NeuraLight 3D Ultra spatial light modulator (SLM) for optogenetics.

Congratulations to the laureates and their groundbreaking work that is opening new avenues for the advancement of neuroscience and medicine.

Also in October, a groundbreaking article was published in Nature that uses the Ultima 2Pplus and NeuraLight 3D Ultra for two-photon calcium imaging and holographic optogenetic stimulation to target the activation of specific neuronal ensembles in the motor cortex. “Targeted stimulation of motor cortex ensembles drives learned movements” by Takaki Komiyama et at. shows that this activation could trigger neural activity patterns and movements resembling a previously learned movement, providing evidence for a causal role of motor-cortex activity patterns in generating learned movements. 

Their work also highlights that precisely targeted optogenetics is a powerful tool for connecting specific neural activity to behavior. 

We are pleased that Bruker’s Ultima multiphoton technology has become such a powerful tool for optogenetics, providing revolutionary 3D holographic photostimulation capabilities for functional and large-scale studies on brain computation and neural networks.