Monaco 1035-40-40 LX Laser

The Spatial Navigation and Memory Unit, at the Division of Intramural Research (DIR), within the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) seeks to purchase a singlewavelength two-photon laser, which will interface with an existing 2Pplus two-photon microscope (NIH decal no.: 02211037), adding a second light path that will enable powerful and precise patterned two-photon optogenetic modulation during in vivo two-photon imaging.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the nation’s leading medical research agency and the primary Federal agency whose mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability, conducting, supporting, and making medical discoveries that improve people’s health and save lives. NINDS is one of 27 Institutes and Centers at the NIH, and its mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease for all people.

The NINDS Division of Intramural Research (DIR) is the internal research program of the NINDS and is among the largest neuroscience research centers in the world. It is home to more than 500 scientists who conduct leading-edge basic, translational, and clinical research in neuroscience, neurology, and neurosurgery research at NINDS laboratories in Bethesda, Maryland.
The Spatial Navigation and Memory Unit (SNMU) is focused on the neural basis of spatial navigation and memory, with the ultimate goal to uncover the fundamental principle of spatial cognition and the cause of related neurological disorders. The laboratory primarily focuses on the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC), which is heavily involved in spatial cognition. Using genetic mouse models, the lab is addressing several fundamental questions: (1) how is spatial information represented and computed in the MEC circuit; (2) whether and how is spatial memory encoded in the MEC; (3) how the MEC interacts with other brain areas to perform its function; (4) how the physiological function of the MEC is disrupted in Alzheimer's Disease. The laboratory plans to combine in vivo two-photon imaging and two-photon optogenetics at the cellular resolution to investigate the effect of modulating different functional cell types on the MEC network response and behavior. The laboratory will require a one-box, hands-free, turn-key amplified fiber laser system with computer control and software GUI----- Monaco 1035-40-40 LX laser to achieve the above experiments. The collected data are important to understand the causal role of the MEC circuit in spatial cognition.