- The "invasiveness" of optogenetics is at least as bad as electrical microstimulation, in that you need to implant cannulae to inject the virus, plus some sort of fiber. It's possible to implant very thin metal electrodes that do fairly little damage; the optical stuff is currently much bigger.
- Optogenetics does have a selectivity advantage, but it's a bit different. By finding the right promotor, you can target specific cell types so that the optical protein is only expressed in (say) a specific class of interneurons, or a specific layer, or cells that project to another brain region.
- The virus itself isn't switching things on and off. Instead, the virus infects cells and causes the cells to produce a channel which light can switch on/off.
- The "invasiveness" of optogenetics is at least as bad as electrical microstimulation, in that you need to implant cannulae to inject the virus, plus some sort of fiber. It's possible to implant very thin metal electrodes that do fairly little damage; the optical stuff is currently much bigger.
- Optogenetics does have a selectivity advantage, but it's a bit different. By finding the right promotor, you can target specific cell types so that the optical protein is only expressed in (say) a specific class of interneurons, or a specific layer, or cells that project to another brain region.
- The virus itself isn't switching things on and off. Instead, the virus infects cells and causes the cells to produce a channel which light can switch on/off.