The editorial introduces the Neurophotonics Special Issue “Complex Media NeuroPhotonics,” highlighting featured articles.

Fiber photometry is an optical method to monitor fluorescent signals using a fiber optic cannula. Over the past two decades, together with the development of various genetically encoded biosensors, it has been applied to investigate various types of activity in the central nervous system. This includes not only type-specific neuronal population activity, but also non-neuronal activity and neurotransmitter/neuropeptide signals in awake, freely behaving animals. In this perspective, we summarize the recent development of this technique. After describing common technical pitfalls, we discuss future directions of this powerful approach for investigating brain function and dysfunction.

In recent decades, various subfields within neuroscience, spanning molecular, cellular, and systemic dimensions, have significantly advanced our understanding of the elaborate molecular and cellular mechanisms that underpin learning, memory, and adaptive behaviors. There have been notable advancements in imaging techniques, particularly in reaching superficial brain structures. This progress has led to their widespread adoption in numerous laboratories. However, essential physiological and cognitive processes, including sensory integration, emotional modulation of motivated behavior, motor regulation, learning, and memory consolidation, are intricately encoded within deeper brain structures. Hence, visualization techniques such as calcium imaging using miniscopes have gained popularity for studying brain activity in unrestrained animals. Despite its utility, miniscope technology is associated with substantial brain tissue damage caused by gradient refractive index lens implantation. Furthermore, its imaging capabilities are primarily confined to the neuronal somata level, thus constraining a comprehensive exploration of subcellular processes underlying adaptive behaviors. Consequently, the trajectory of neuroscience’s future hinges on the development of minimally invasive optical fiber-based endo-microscopes optimized for cellular, subcellular, and molecular imaging within the intricate depths of the brain. In pursuit of this goal, select research groups have invested significant efforts in advancing this technology. In this review, we present a perspective on the potential impact of this innovation on various aspects of neuroscience, enabling the functional exploration of in vivo cellular and subcellular processes that underlie synaptic plasticity and the neuronal adaptations that govern behavior.

Optogenetics opened the door to a new era of neuroscience. New optical developments are under way to enable high-resolution neuronal activity imaging and selective photostimulation of neuronal ensembles in freely moving animals. These advancements could allow researchers to interrogate, with cellular precision, functionally relevant neuronal circuits in the framework of naturalistic brain activity. We provide an overview of the current state-of-the-art of imaging and photostimulation in freely moving rodents and present a road map for future optical and engineering developments toward miniaturized microscopes that could reach beyond the currently existing systems.

Advances in imaging tools have always been a pivotal driver for new discoveries in neuroscience. An ability to visualize neurons and subcellular structures deep within the brain of a freely behaving animal is integral to our understanding of the relationship between neural activity and higher cognitive functions. However, fast high-resolution imaging is limited to sub-surface brain regions and generally requires head fixation of the animal under the microscope. Developing new approaches to address these challenges is critical. The last decades have seen rapid progress in minimally invasive endo-microscopy techniques based on bare optical fibers. A single multimode fiber can be used to penetrate deep into the brain without causing significant damage to the overlying structures and provide high-resolution imaging. Here, we discuss how the full potential of high-speed super-resolution fiber endoscopy can be realized by a holistic approach that combines fiber optics, light shaping, and advanced computational algorithms. The recent progress opens up new avenues for minimally invasive deep brain studies in freely behaving mice.

The intricate nature of the brain necessitates the application of advanced probing techniques to comprehensively study and understand its working mechanisms. Neurophotonics offers minimally invasive methods to probe the brain using optics at cellular and even molecular levels. However, multiple challenges persist, especially concerning imaging depth, field of view, speed, and biocompatibility. A major hindrance to solving these challenges in optics is the scattering nature of the brain. This perspective highlights the potential of complex media optics, a specialized area of study focused on light propagation in materials with intricate heterogeneous optical properties, in advancing and improving neuronal readouts for structural imaging and optical recordings of neuronal activity. Key strategies include wavefront shaping techniques and computational imaging and sensing techniques that exploit scattering properties for enhanced performance. We discuss the potential merger of the two fields as well as potential challenges and perspectives toward longer term in vivo applications.

An emerging trend at the forefront of optical neural interfaces leverages the optical properties of photonic nanostructures to modulate light delivery and collection patterns in deep brain regions. This perspective article surveys the early works that have spearheaded this promising strategy, and discusses its promise towards the establishment of a class of augmented nano-neurophotonic probes.

Within the realm of optical neural interfaces, the exploration of plasmonic resonances to interact with neural cells has captured increasing attention among the neuroscience community. The interplay of light with conduction electrons in nanometer-sized metallic nanostructures can induce plasmonic resonances, showcasing a versatile capability to both sense and trigger cellular events. We describe the perspective of generating propagating or localized surface plasmon polaritons on the tip of an optical neural implant, widening the possibility for neuroscience labs to explore the potential of plasmonic neural interfaces.

The continuous exchange between the neuroscience and neuroengineering communities that took place over the past decades has uncovered a multitude of technological solutions to interface with the brain. In this framework, a fascinating approach relies on the integration of multiple activation and monitoring capabilities in the same implantable neural probe to better study the multifaceted nature of neural signaling and related functions in the deep brain regions. We highlight current challenges and perspectives on technological developments that could potentially enable the integration of multiple functionalities on optical fiber-based non-planar implantable neurophotonics probes.