Optical tweezers (OT) are increasingly being used in neuroscience research. Neurons are studied on a sub-molecular and molecular scale, and thus the neural network system of the brain is studied. The complex properties of the brain itself and the difficulties of operating OT deep within the brain have made the development of OT technology relatively slow compared to other biotechnologies. However, the ease with which OT can be combined with other techniques is leading to the rapid development of research into cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. In this insight, relevant OT concepts based on neuroscience are described, other types of OT related to the field of neuroscience are introduced, and experiments related to cancer and neurodegenerative diseases are described.
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