From Nature.com by Esther Landhuis
Scientists are developing ways to probe the activity, function and organization of neurons in real time with increasing precision.
The BARseq2 technique can identify snippets of messenger RNA (colours) and help researchers see which brain layers those snippets are in. Credit: Yu-Chi Sun et al./Nature Neurosci.
Life is full of nervous reactions — a head snaps towards a voice, leg muscles tense at the sound of a starting gun and thirsty mice scamper towards a squirt of water when trained to respond to a certain tone.
The mechanisms behind such reward-related behaviours are notoriously difficult to unpick. Nerve cells often snake through multiple brain areas, and their long axons and dense, tree-like dendrites can spark cellular conversations with thousands upon thousands of neighbours. Neural filaments can be exceptionally fine, and their positioning is crucial: disruptions in neural networks can lead to a range of neurological conditions. Yet, “If you want to label more than a few neurons at the same time and then trace where their axons go, it’s really difficult”, says Xiaoyin Chen, a neuroscientist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, Washington.
Still, researchers are slowly creating the tools to untangle that complexity, harnessing the power of sequencing, optogenetics and protein engineering to trace neuronal connections, record their activity, measure their inputs and outputs and map their networks.
From Nature.com by Esther Landhuis
Scientists are developing ways to probe the activity, function and organization of neurons in real time with increasing precision.
The BARseq2 technique can identify snippets of messenger RNA (colours) and help researchers see which brain layers those snippets are in. Credit: Yu-Chi Sun et al./Nature Neurosci.
Life is full of nervous reactions — a head snaps towards a voice, leg muscles tense at the sound of a starting gun and thirsty mice scamper towards a squirt of water when trained to respond to a certain tone.
The mechanisms behind such reward-related behaviours are notoriously difficult to unpick. Nerve cells often snake through multiple brain areas, and their long axons and dense, tree-like dendrites can spark cellular conversations with thousands upon thousands of neighbours. Neural filaments can be exceptionally fine, and their positioning is crucial: disruptions in neural networks can lead to a range of neurological conditions. Yet, “If you want to label more than a few neurons at the same time and then trace where their axons go, it’s really difficult”, says Xiaoyin Chen, a neuroscientist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, Washington.
Still, researchers are slowly creating the tools to untangle that complexity, harnessing the power of sequencing, optogenetics and protein engineering to trace neuronal connections, record their activity, measure their inputs and outputs and map their networks.
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From Nature.com by Esther Landhuis
Scientists are developing ways to probe the activity, function and organization of neurons in real time with increasing precision.
The BARseq2 technique can identify snippets of messenger RNA (colours) and help researchers see which brain layers those snippets are in. Credit: Yu-Chi Sun et al./Nature Neurosci.
Life is full of nervous reactions — a head snaps towards a voice, leg muscles tense at the sound of a starting gun and thirsty mice scamper towards a squirt of water when trained to respond to a certain tone.
The mechanisms behind such reward-related behaviours are notoriously difficult to unpick. Nerve cells often snake through multiple brain areas, and their long axons and dense, tree-like dendrites can spark cellular conversations with thousands upon thousands of neighbours. Neural filaments can be exceptionally fine, and their positioning is crucial: disruptions in neural networks can lead to a range of neurological conditions. Yet, “If you want to label more than a few neurons at the same time and then trace where their axons go, it’s really difficult”, says Xiaoyin Chen, a neuroscientist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, Washington.
Still, researchers are slowly creating the tools to untangle that complexity, harnessing the power of sequencing, optogenetics and protein engineering to trace neuronal connections, record their activity, measure their inputs and outputs and map their networks.
Related Posts
Worm’s radical transformation shows metamorphosis can change the functions of cells
RNA sequencing reveals functional chimeric mRNAs in mammalian immunity
Atlas of the brain’s striatum could guide researchers to new drug treatments
Immune cells offer insights on billion-dollar virus
A functionally integrated cross-tissue alternative splicing program during short-term calorie restriction
Dietary oxidized plant sterol shifts macrophage state to fuel aortic inflammation
Unlocking the past – new method helps gain insights into old tissue
Novel AI model trained on RNA-Seq data accurately detects key gene mutations and predicts biomarkers across 32 cancer types
Transcriptomic aging clock reveals age-related molecular patterns in opioid dependence
RNA sequencing helps predict stem cell transplant benefit in pediatric AML
Protein ‘switch’ determines whether liposarcoma cells will become aggressive
Precursor tRNAs sense temperature changes: heat stress-induced capped pre-tRNAs suppress protein synthesis
Ketamine increases neuroplasticity in female mice but not in males
Somatic mutations linked to vascular damage in progeria
Scientists map dormant cancer cells’ hideouts, opening new targets for treatment
Soluble signals released by neighboring cells direct how the human kidney is built
Genetics influence how cancer arises – and how it evolves
RNA-based testing uncovers extraordinary diversity in mutations driving lung cancer
Study offers new insights into why ex-smokers remain at elevated risk of lung disease
Learning the grammar of gene regulation
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