I recently read an article about this in one of last year's Scientific American editions, and I expect some of y'all will find it of immense interst. These techniques hold much promise for the future of brain research and the mitigation of brain disoders.
Optogenetics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optogenetics)
Optogenetics: Controlling the Brain with Light (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=optogenetics-controlling)
Optogenetics: Controlling the brain with light (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA67v4vSg00#ws)
Optogenetics: Controlling the Brain with Light (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8bPbHuOZXg)