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Here we present Voltage Measurement by Activated Photocycles (VMAP), a simple method for absolute voltage imaging based on a photophysical switch between voltage-insensitive and sensitive indicator states. VMAP requires no specialized hardware or additional labeling, and is applicable across species, sample preparations, and microscope configurations. Using VMAP, we quantified drug-induced shifts in neuronal resting potential, revealed the emergence of bioelectric patterns during multi-day recordings of human iPSC populations, and created 3D membrane-potential maps across whole live zebrafish embryos. By making absolute voltage imaging accessible from cellular to organismal scales and from milliseconds to days, VMAP opens a route to mapping bioelectrical organization in complex living systems.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.07.17.739178","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]],"date-time":"2026-07-17T23:25:12Z","timestamp":1784330712000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Absolute voltage mapping using dynamic photocycle control"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Daozheng","family":"Gong","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jinfan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Madeleine R.","family":"Howell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiang","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bill Z.","family":"Jia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University"},{"name":"Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8699-2404","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adam E.","family":"Cohen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University"},{"name":"Department of Physics, Harvard University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2026072105201019000_2026.07.17.739178v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-bioeng-071811-150114"},{"key":"2026072105201019000_2026.07.17.739178v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"211","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-biophys-051013-022717","article-title":"Bringing Bioelectricity to Light","volume":"43","year":"2014","journal-title":"Annual Review of Biophysics"},{"key":"2026072105201019000_2026.07.17.739178v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"L. 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