On January 11, 2026, Professor Lingjie Kong from Tsinghua University visited the Center for Biomedical Optics and Molecular Imaging at the invitation of Professor Chengbo Liu from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences. During the visit, he delivered an academic lecture titled "Optical Bidirectional Brain-Computer Interface Technology".

As a revolutionary neural engineering technology, the brain-computer interface (BCI) has attracted widespread attention in recent years. Compared with other technologies, optical BCI technology based on optical microscopy and genetic engineering can simultaneously achieve high-throughput recording and high-resolution modulation of in vivo neural activities, which is expected to answer key scientific questions regarding current BCI performance improvement. However, constrained by the intrinsic scattering properties of brain tissue and limitations of microscopy systems, current dissection of neural functional circuits at the mesoscopic scale still faces numerous challenges.

In the report, Professor Kong mainly discussed the following topics: (1) Unresolved key scientific questions facing current BCI performance improvement, including the relationship between performance and recording throughput/density, and whether there are specific types of critical neurons; (2) The advantages of optical BCI technology in simultaneously achieving high-throughput recording and high-resolution modulation of in vivo neural activities; (3) Challenges facing the dissection of neural functional circuits at the mesoscopic scale regarding the intrinsic scattering properties of brain tissue, the limited space-bandwidth product of microscopy systems, and mechanical inertia; (4) The research group's latest progress in optical bidirectional BCI technology.

Professor Lingjie Kong delivering the academic lecture

Professor Kong and Professor Chengbo Liu engaging in discussion in the laboratory

Biography:

Lingjie Kong is a tenured professor in the Department of Precision Instrument at Tsinghua University, an investigator at the IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research at Tsinghua University, and a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars. He received his Ph.D. in Engineering from Tsinghua University in 2012, followed by postdoctoral research at Harvard University, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Purdue University. He has published over 60 high-level papers as first or corresponding author (including 2 papers in Nature Photonics, 2 in Nature Methods, 1 in Nature Machine Intelligence, 1 in Science Advances, and 1 in Cell Reports). He has presided over projects such as the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, Key Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the "Science and Technology Innovation 2030—Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence" Major Project (Young Scientist Project), and participated in the National Major Scientific Research Instrument Development Project and the Innovation Group Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. He was selected for the National Overseas High-Level Talent Introduction Plan (Youth Project) and has received honors such as the MIT Technology Review "Innovators Under 35" in China, the Shenzhen Society for Brain Science "30 Young Innovators in Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence," the first "Qingyun Award" from Chinese Laser Press, and the Science and Technology Award (Second Prize in Natural Science) from the Chinese Society for Optical Engineering. His MOOC course "Neurophotonics" was recognized as a "National First-Class Undergraduate Course (Online)".