Optical approaches are revolutionising the way experiments are performed in systems neuroscience. This workshop will focus on two-photon microscopy, explaining how it works and why it is useful. Starting with basic optical principles, we will work our way up to advanced approaches. The goal of the workshop is to develop an intuition for the basic operating principles of these microscopes and how they can be used to record and manipulate neural activity in vivo. This workshop is geared towards those interested in using this approach in their work as well as current users of two-photon microscopy that wish to understand more deeply how the microscope works. Topics covered include:

1. How do lenses work
2. Fluorescence and two-photon excitation
3. How does a two-photon microscope work
4. Two-photon optogenetics and multi-cell stimulation with spatial light modulators