PROJECT DESCRIPTION Synapses are formed, broken and reformed dynamically both during development, normal function and in response to activity. Although this general principle is well-established, the way in which this is manifested in specific subtypes of neurons across a complex network, and how altered patterns of synaptic input will determine network function, have not been quantitatively investigated.
ABSTRACT Recording the electrical impulses of individual neurons in intact brain circuits in real time has been a longstanding goal in neuroscience. One potentially widely applicable use of voltage recording would be to test postsynaptic responses upon physiological or optogenetic activation of presynaptic partners. Recording a neuron while its inputs are controlled would enable a detailed understanding of how individual neurons process information. This understanding becomes important when circuity is altered in disease, e.g.
Project Summary Mammalian brain is composed of vast numbers of intricately interconnected neurons with various molecular, anatomical and physiological identities. To understand the roles of these individual building blocks of the brain, it will be critical to develop spatio-temporally precise tools that will allow neuronal subtype specific single cell level analysis.
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Identifying the diversity of cell types in the nervous system will allow for their selective manipulation and reveal their functional contributions in health and disease. However, this is not a trivial undertaking and is hindered by the lack of consensus on which properties to use for classification. Characteristics like anatomical location, connectivity, morphology, molecular profile, and electrophysiological properties have been used as classification systems, but singly, none provide a combined view of all these characteristics.
PROJECT SUMMARY How the brain performs its computational task is a great unsolved problem in biology, but this answer is vital for us to understand and combat disorders of brain function like autism, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s. One appealing strategy towards solving this problem is to deconstruct the brain into the component parts—the cell types—and to determine their respective key features and dissect which physiological functions are sub served by each distinct type.
Project Summary/Abstract The long-term goal of these investigations is to develop methods based on high- throughput DNA sequencing for determining neuronal circuitry. Neurons transmit information to distant brain regions via long-range axonal projections. In some cases, functionally distinct populations of neurons are intermingled within a small region. Disruptions of connectivity may underlie many neuropsychiatric disorders including autism and schizophrenia. At present, neuroanatomical techniques—particularly those with single neuron resolution—are expensive and labor intensive.
Abstract: A Multimodal Atlas of Human Brain Cell Types Cell types are the building blocks of the brain, including the neuron types forming specific neuronal circuits responsible for perception, cognition and action, and the non-neuronal elements performing other essential roles for proper brain function.
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The complexity of the mammalian brain is unparalleled by any other organ, and understanding its cellular composition is essential to understand how it gives rise to cognition and behavior. It is clear that brain contains many more cell types than have been described to date. Many cell types can now be distinguished by their patterns of gene expression, and knowledge of these patterns can provide genetic access to specific populations of neurons.
ANATOMY RESEARCH SEGMENT SUMMARY The overarching goal of neuroanatomy is to establish a structural framework to integrate multiscale and multi-modal information and to provide a road map that guides the exploration of neural dynamics and brain function. “Anatomic” neuron types can be described by their location, morphology, a
Even though scientists have been captivated by the diversity of brain cells for well over a century, since the initial anatomical descriptions by Santiago Ramón y Cajal, it is only recently that the developments in new technologies allowed us to truly appreciate the astonishing complexity of cell types in the mammalian brain. Yet, even today, our knowledge of cell type anatomy and function is largely limited to a few brain areas, such as the sensory cortex or the hippocampus.
