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In 2005, a scientist at Stanford University devised a way to switch brain cells on or off with light pulses by using special proteins from microbes to pass electrical current into neurons. Since then the technique (also dubbed 'optogentics') has been used by researchers all around the world for understanding the biological system designs and functions. 

However, the technique had a minor flaw. The light-sensitive proteins were potent at switching cells but were less effective at turning them off. 

Recently, the same team of scientists re-engineered the previous technique enabling the light sensitive proteins to switch cells off far more efficiently than before.

"This is something we and others in the field have sought for a very long time," said scientist Karl Deisseroth, MD, PhD, senior author of the paper and professor of bioengineering and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, in a press release.

"This latest discovery by the Deisseroth team is the kind of neurotechnology envisioned by President Obama when he launched the BRAIN Initiative a year ago," said Thomas Insel, MD, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, who funded the study, in a press release.

"It creates a powerful tool that allows neuroscientists to apply a brake in any specific circuit with millisecond precision, beyond the power of any existing technology."

With the help of devised technique, researchers were able to make many discoveries that involved both excitatory and inhibitory opsins. But researchers noticed that stimulation was more effective than inhibition and therefore they sought to lay the groundwork for developing new inhibitory tools by delving more deeply into the mechanism. 

"This is a complex story at the interface of science and engineering," added Deisseroth.

The paper will be published in the journal Science.