#20: Christian Lüscher – OptoDBS and how we bring back the neuron into neurology

In this episode I had the honor to speak with Christian Lüscher about his exciting work on neuromodulation in addiction as well as the upcoming OptoDBS conference which he has been organizing since 2015 in Geneva. We cover Christian's milestone works in creating and refining a model of addiction in the brain, ways to counteract addiction using both optogenetics and DBS and why only about twenty percent of mice with unlimited access to drugs will become addicted. We discuss examples of optogenetically informed DBS by the Lüscher lab and recent milestone work by Aryn Gittis. OptoDBS has unique setup of joint sessions with similar topics by speakers from the optogenetics & DBS fields, respectively. The aim is to derive at optogenetically informed concepts for DBS – which could be implemented to change clinical practice. I have the great honor to co-host this years' conference and we discuss the anticipated highlights of OptoDBS and what we are most excited about.
I hope you enjoy the conversation with Christian as much as I did and we both hope to see you this June in Geneva for OptoDBS 2022!