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To understand how function arises from the interactions between neurons, it is necessary to use methods that allow the monitoring of brain activity at the single-neuron, single-spike level and the targeted manipulation of the diverse neuron types selectively in a closed-loop manner. Large-scale recordings of neuronal spiking combined with optogenetic perturbation of identified individual neurons has...
New technologies to probe the nervous system are propelling innovation and discovery at blinding speed, but are our trainees prepared to maximize this power? The growing role of engineering in research, such as materials, computing, electronics, and devices, compels us to rethink neuroscience education. Core technology requirements, cross-disciplinary education, open-source resources, and experiential...
How broadly expressed transcription factors contribute to tissue-specific gene expression is not well understood. Andzelm, Cherry et al. (2015) demonstrate that myocyte enhancer factor 2D (MEF2D) binds and activates retina-specific regulatory regions by cooperative interaction with the tissue-specific transcription factor CRX.
Single neuron actions and interactions are the sine qua non of brain function, and nearly all diseases and injuries of the CNS trace their clinical sequelae to neuronal dysfunction or failure. Remarkably, discussion of neuronal activity is largely absent in clinical neuroscience. Advances in neurotechnology and computational capabilities, accompanied by shifts in theoretical frameworks, have led to...
Unmodified neurons can be directly stimulated with light to produce action potentials, but such techniques have lacked localization of the delivered light energy. Here we show that gold nanoparticles can be conjugated to high-avidity ligands for a variety of cellular targets. Once bound to a neuron, these particles transduce millisecond pulses of light into heat, which changes membrane capacitance,...
Organismal development requires the precise coordination of genetic programs to regulate cell fate and function. MEF2 transcription factors (TFs) play essential roles in this process but how these broadly expressed factors contribute to the generation of specific cell types during development is poorly understood. Here we show that despite being expressed in virtually all mammalian tissues, in the...
In this issue of Neuron, Bruno et al. (2015) use large-scale recordings in Aplysia, and apply novel dimensionality-reduction techniques to define dynamical building blocks involved in locomotor behavior. These techniques open new avenues to the study of neuronal networks.
Fluorescence imaging offers expanding capabilities for recording neural dynamics in behaving mammals, including the means to monitor hundreds of cells targeted by genetic type or connectivity, track cells over weeks, densely sample neurons within local microcircuits, study cells too inactive to isolate in extracellular electrical recordings, and visualize activity in dendrites, axons, or dendritic...
A group of papers investigates functional regulatory elements in genomes from human tissue samples and cell lines. What can neuroscientists learn from the gigantic data set and how will it affect the direction of neuroepigenetics?
Mutations in superoxide dismutase (SOD1) cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease characterized by loss of motor neurons and accompanied by accumulation of misfolded SOD1 onto the cytoplasmic faces of intracellular organelles, including mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Using inhibition of misfolded SOD1 deposition onto mitochondria as an assay, a chaperone...
The neural substrates of motor programs are only well understood for small, dedicated circuits. Here we investigate how a motor program is constructed within a large network. We imaged populations of neurons in the Aplysia pedal ganglion during execution of a locomotion motor program. We found that the program was built from a very small number of dynamical building blocks, including both neural ensembles...
Most behaviors are generated in three steps: sensing the external world, processing that information to instruct decision-making, and producing a motor action. Sensory areas, especially primary sensory cortices, have long been held to be involved only in the first step of this sequence. Here, we develop a visually cued interval timing task that requires rats to decide when to perform an action following...
Direct human brain recordings have transformed the scope of neuroscience in the past decade. Progress has relied upon currently available neurophysiological approaches in the context of patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures for medical treatment. While this setting has provided precious opportunities for scientific research, it also has presented significant constraints on the development of...
Neuropathic pain is caused by long-term modifications of neuronal function in the peripheral nervous system, the spinal cord, and supraspinal areas. Although functional changes in the forebrain are thought to contribute to the development of persistent pain, their significance and precise subcellular nature remain unexplored. Using somatic and dendritic whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from neurons...
Neuromechanical principles define the properties and problems that shape neural solutions for movement. Although the theoretical and experimental evidence is debated, we present arguments for consistent structures in motor patterns, i.e., motor modules, that are neuromechanical solutions for movement particular to an individual and shaped by evolutionary, developmental, and learning processes. As...
Neurological disorders disrupt the equilibrium within the brain and spinal cord ecosystems. Ecology reuses, recycles, and reduces to help maintain the balance across ecosystems. Likewise, neuroprosthetics can help the brain help itself with ecoprosthetic designs that integrate the principles of the “three ‘R’s.”
The patch clamp is a fundamental tool for neuroscientists, offering insights that have shaped our understanding of the brain. Advances in nanotechnology suggest that the next generation of recording methods is now within reach. We discuss the complexity and future promise of applying nanoscience to neural recording.
In this issue of Neuron, Santello and Nevian (2015) report HCN channel plasticity and increased temporal summation in layer 5 ACC neurons following nerve injury. They are able to restore HCN channel function and reduce behavioral hypersensitivity with selective serotonin receptor targeting.
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