WEB FOCUS
Technical breakthroughs in neuroscience
In this focus
Neuroscientists have made enormous technical breakthroughs in recent years. Advances in imaging combined with sophisticated methods for cell labelling now make it possible to visualize cellular and subcellular events in living brain cells, opening a window onto basic neural processing. New genetic tools combined with high-throughput methods have brought a much deeper appreciation of the diversity of components from which neural circuits are built. Finally, recent years have seen the arrival of new methods for manipulating brain activity with light. A new Nature paper describes the latest advance in this technology, demonstrating how light-sensitive proteins can be used to activate and silence neurons with precise timing.
This special Nature web focus brings together exclusive coverage of the discovery, along with recent papers describing and utilizing cutting-edge technology for understanding and controlling brain and behaviour.
Image: Christoph Peter Mauch, Klaus Becker and Hans-Ulrich Dodt.
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Video
In these videos scientists explain how light can be used to manipulate brain cell activity with high precision. Hear them explain how this research brings the fields of bioengineering and medicine together, and what the implications might be.
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Current Research
ARTICLE
Multimodal fast optical interrogation of neural circuitry Free access
Feng Zhang et al.
Nature 446, 633 (5 April 2007) doi:10.1038/nature05744
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
NEWS AND VIEWS
Neuroscience: Controlling neural circuits with light free access
Michael Häusser and Spencer Smith
Nature 446, 617-619 (5 April 2007) doi:10.1038/446617a
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Podcast
Hear more about how the breakthrough was made and how it is getting neuroscientists excited. We get the low down from project leader Karl Deisseroth and news correspondent Alison Abbott on the 05 April Nature Podcast.
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Links
- McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience
- Dana Foundation's imaging research program
- Allen Brain Atlas
- GENSAT
- Nature Methods Focus on fluorescence imaging
- Nature Neuroscience Focus on Scaling up neuroscience
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ARCHIVE
OPTICAL STIMULATION OF NEURONS
TECHNICAL REPORT
Anticonvulsant and anesthetic effects of a fluorescent neurosteroid analog activated by visible light
Lawrence N. Eisenman et al.
Nat. Neurosci. 10, 523 - 530 (25 February 2007) doi:10.1038/nn1862
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS
Optical induction of synaptic plasticity using a light-sensitive channel
Yan-Ping Zhang and Thomas G Oertner
Nat. Methods 4, 139-141 (4 February 2007) doi:10.1038/nmeth988
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS
Fast manipulation of cellular cAMP level by light in vivo
Saskia Schröder-Lang et al.
Nat. Methods 4, 39-42 (4 January 2007) doi:10.1038/nmeth975
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
PERSPECTIVE
Channelrhodopsin-2 and optical control of excitable cells
Feng Zhang, Li-Ping Wang, Edward S. Boyden and Karl Deisseroth
Nat. Methods 3, 785-792 (3 October 2006) doi:10.1038/nmeth936
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS
Allosteric control of an ionotropic glutamate receptor with an optical switch
Matthew Volgraf et al.
Nat. Chem. Biol. 2, 47-52 (2 January 2006) doi:10.1038/nchembio756
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
PERSPECTIVE
Photochemical tools for remote control of ion channels in excitable cells
Richard H. Kramer, James J. Chambers and Dirk Trauner
Nat. Chem. Biol. 1, 360-365 (1 December 2005) doi:10.1038/nchembio750
ARTICLE
Rapid neurotransmitter uncaging in spatially defined patterns
Shy Shoham, Daniel H O'Connor, Dmitry V. Sarkisov and Samuel S-H. Wang
Nat. Methods 2, 837-843 (2 November 2005) doi:10.1038/nmeth793
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
TECHNICAL REPORT
Millisecond-timescale, genetically targeted optical control of neural activity
Edward S. Boyden, Feng Zhang, Ernst Bamberg, Georg Nagel and Karl Deisseroth
Nat. Neurosci. 8, 1263-1268 (8 September 2005) doi:10.1038/nn1525
TECHNICAL REPORT
Light-activated ion channels for remote control of neuronal firing
Matthew Banghart, Katharine Borges, Ehud Isacoff, Dirk Trauner and Richard H. Kramer
Nat. Neurosci. 7, 1381-1386 (7 December 2004) doi:10.1038/nn1356
MICROCIRCUITRY
ARTICLE
Targeting neural circuitry in zebrafish using GAL4 enhancer trapping
Ethan K. Scott et al.
Nat. Methods 4 323-326 (18 March 2007) doi:10.1038/nmeth1033
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
ARTICLE
Fine-scale specificity of cortical networks depends on inhibitory cell type and connectivity
Yumiko Yoshimura and Edward M. Callaway
Nat. Neurosci. 8, 1552-1559 (8 November 2005) doi:10.1038/nn1565
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
ARTICLE
Heterogeneity in the pyramidal network of the medial prefrontal cortex
Yun Wang et al.
Nat. Neurosci. 9, 534-542 (9 April 2005) doi:10.1038/nn1670
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
LETTER
Excitatory cortical neurons form fine-scale functional networks
Yumiko Yoshimura, Jami L. M. Dantzker and Edward M. Callaway
Nature 433, 868-873 (24 February 2005) doi:10.1038/nature03252
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
ARTICLE
Geometric and functional organization of cortical circuits
Gordon M. G. Shepherd, Armen Stepanyants, Ingrid Bureau, Dmitri Chklovskii and Karel Svoboda
Nat. Neurosci. 8, 782-790 (8 January 2005) doi:10.1038/nn1447
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
GENE PROFILING & FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS
ARTICLE
Genome-wide atlas of gene expression in the adult mouse brain
Ed S. Lein et al.
Nature 445, 168-176 (24 January 2007) doi:10.1038/nature05453
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
TECHNICAL REPORT
FACS-array profiling of striatal projection neuron subtypes in juvenile and adult mouse brains
Mary Kay Lobo, Stanislav L. Karsten, Michelle Gray, Daniel H. Geschwind and X William Yang
Nat. Neurosci. 9, 443-452 (9 March 2006) doi:10.1038/nn1654
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
ARTICLE
Molecular taxonomy of major neuronal classes in the adult mouse forebrain
Ken Sugino et al.
Nat. Neurosci. 9, 99-107 (9 January 2006) doi:10.1038/nn1618
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
ARTICLE
Systematic analysis of genes required for synapse structure and function
Derek Sieburth et al.
Nature 436, 510-517 (28 July 2005) doi:10.1038/nature03809
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
ARTICLE
A gene expression atlas of the central nervous system based on bacterial artificial chromosomes
Shiaoching Gong et al.
Nature 425, 917-925 (30 October 2003) doi:10.1038/nature02033
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
IMAGING & MICROSCOPY
ARTICLE
Ultramicroscopy: three-dimensional visualization of neuronal networks in the whole mouse brain
Hans-Ulrich Dodt et al.
Nat. Methods 4 331-336 (25 March 2007) doi:10.1038/nmeth1036
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
BRIEF COMMUNICATION
Improved calcium imaging in transgenic mice expressing a troponin C-based biosensor
Nicola Heim et al.
Nat. Methods 4, 127-129 (4 February 2007) doi:10.1038/nmeth1009
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
ARTICLE
Imaging cellular network dynamics in three dimensions using fast 3D laser scanning
Werner Göbel, Björn M. Kampa and Fritjof Helmchen
Nat. Methods 4, 73-79 (4 January 2007) doi:10.1038/nmeth989
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
BRIEF COMMUNICATION
Nanoscale resolution in GFP-based microscopy
Katrin I. Willig et al.
Nat. Methods 3, 721-723 (3 September 2006) doi:10.1038/nmeth922
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
LETTER
Highly ordered arrangement of single neurons in orientation pinwheels
Kenichi Ohki et al.
Nature 442, 925-928 (28 August 2006) doi:10.1038/nature05019
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
ARTICLE
Reconstruction of firing rate changes across neuronal populations by temporally deconvolved Ca2+ imaging
Emre Yaksi and Rainer W. Friedrich
Nat. Methods 3, 377-383 (3 May 2006) doi:10.1038/nmeth874
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
LETTER
STED microscopy reveals that synaptotagmin remains clustered after synaptic vesicle exocytosis
Katrin I. Willig, Silvio O. Rizzoli, Volker Westphal, Reinhard Jahn and Stefan W. Hell
Nature 440, 935-939 (13 April 2006) doi:10.1038/nature04592
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
ARTICLE
Characterization of voltage-gated sodium-channel blockers by electrical stimulation and fluorescence detection of membrane potential
Chien-Jung Huang et al.
Nat. Biotech. 24, 439-446 (1 April 2006) doi:10.1038/nbt1194
TECHNICAL REPORT
Supersensitive Ras activation in dendrites and spines revealed by two-photon fluorescence lifetime imaging
Ryohei Yasuda et al.
Nat. Neurosci. 9, 283-291 (9 February 2006) doi:10.1038/nn1635
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
ARTICLE
Functional imaging with cellular resolution reveals precise micro-architecture in visual cortex
Kenichi Ohki, Sooyoung Chung, Yeang H. Ch'ng, Prakash Kara and R. Clay Reid
Nature 433, 597-603 (10 February 2005) doi:10.1038/nature03274
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
ARTICLE
Sulforhodamine 101 as a specific marker of astroglia in the neocortex in vivo
Axel Nimmerjahn, Frank Kirchhoff, Jason N. D. Kerr and Fritjof Helmchen
Nat. Methods 1, 31-37 (1 October 2004) doi:10.1038/nmeth706
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
ARTICLE
Reversible site-selective labeling of membrane proteins in live cells
Emmanuel G. Guignet, Ruud Hovius & Horst Vogel
Nat. Biotech 22, 440-444 (21 March 2004) doi:10.1038/nbt954