# Holographic Optics Technology Core

> **NIH NIH U19** · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · 2020 · $853,075

## Abstract

Two-photon patterned optogenetic excitation is a powerful emerging tool for perturbing distributed neural
activity with cellular precision and specificity. However, current techniques for two-photon patterned
illumination in vivo target a limited number of neurons with relatively poor temporal resolution, have not been
validated across brain areas, and have not yet been reported to drive mammalian behavioral responses. The
Technology Core will tackle a set of technically advanced yet feasible dissemination and development steps,
advancing the team’s optics hardware, software, and optogenetics capabilities. These advances will enable
two-photon optogenetic stimulation to achieve robust and precise distributed neural control in behaving
animals across brain areas and cell types. All three research projects will work with the Technology Core,
leveraging the unique expertise of the core laboratories in advanced optical technologies that allow us to
sculpt laser wavefronts to interrogate brain circuits with single-neuron resolution in different sensory regions of
the rodent brain.
First, the Technology Core will integrate and validate the best practices for all-optical imaging and patterned
two-photon perturbation, experimental management software, and light-sensitive probes. These state-of-the-
art tools will be disseminated across the team. Next, the core will advance and optimize the specificity and
scale of patterned two-photon stimulation, by exploring new optical, algorithmic, and probe-targeting solutions
for improving stimulation specificity and robustness, new hardware and optical designs for extending the
accessible stimulation field in both lateral and axial dimensions, and closed-loop software for brain motion
compensation. Finally, the core will advance and optimize the temporal precision of patterned two-photon
stimulation using rate-optimized optogenetic probes, spatial light modulators (SLMs), and high pulse-energy
lasers, and by accurately synchronizing the optical perturbations with behavioral events and with intrinsic
electrical dynamics.
By enabling the stimulation of hundreds of neurons with unprecedented (below 10 ms) temporal resolution in
behaving animals across brain areas and cell types, the work of the Technology Core will enable the research
objective of elucidating how the cooperative activity of large groups of neurons drives behavior. Optimization
of optical systems, software systems, and probes will be a critical component of result comparisons across
sensory modalities. A unique strength of our proposal is that the technical teams are involved in performing
the in vivo experiments, ensuring that technical expertise is directly available during experiments and that the
problem solving is driven by experimentally relevant concerns.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9983222
- **Project number:** 5U19NS107464-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Shy Shoham
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $853,075
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-15 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9983222

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9983222, Holographic Optics Technology Core (5U19NS107464-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9983222. Licensed CC0.

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