Neuroscience articles within Nature Methods

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  • News & Views |

    Assessing changes in facial expression may enable us to assess pain in animals more accurately and more effectively.

    • Paul A Flecknell

  • This Month |

    Putting a face on pain in mice should improve our ability to measure it.

    • Monya Baker

  • Article |

    Expression of the transporter SID-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans neurons renders the cells sensitive to systemic RNAi and permits previously unidentified neuronal phenotypes to be uncovered. This expression also reduces RNAi in nonneuronal cell types, allowing examination of neuronal functions of lethal genes.

    • Andrea Calixto
    • , Dattananda Chelur
    •  & Martin Chalfie

  • Research Highlights |

    Monitoring the activity of neurons in vivo in the freely behaving zebrafish larvae is now possible using bioluminescence, an approach with great potential for unveiling how neuronal networks control behavior.

    • Erika Pastrana

  • Article |

    Limitations in scanning speed have made it difficult for two-photon imaging to provide accurate temporal information on neuronal signaling. Refinements to random-access scanning using acousto-optic deflectors and an automated algorithm for reconstructing complex spike trains allowed in vivo high-speed optical recording of spiking activity in neuronal populations in the mouse neocortex.

    • Benjamin F Grewe
    • , Dominik Langer
    •  & Fritjof Helmchen

  • Research Highlights |

    The pioneers of the first generation of widely used optogenetic tools now describe new variants that open further possibilities for studying neural function.

    • Erika Pastrana

  • Article |

    The fates of cultured neural progenitor cells can be predicted by algorithmic information theory-based computational analysis of time-lapse images of the cells.

    • Andrew R Cohen
    • , Francisco L A F Gomes
    •  & Michel Cayouette

  • Article |

    The use of membrane-tethered toxins to selectively block ion channel function in vivo is demonstrated. The approach is applied to blockade of voltage-gated calcium channels for inhibition of neurotransmission in the mouse.

    • Sebastian Auer
    • , Annika S Stürzebecher
    •  & Inés Ibañez-Tallon

  • News & Views |

    Two new approaches to neurochemical monitoring in vivo—an improved real-time microsensor and genetically engineered cells that sense neurotransmitter levels—address the critical issue of brain reactivity to implanted devices.

    • Paul A Garris

  • Brief Communication |

    Conventional extracellular electrode recordings are generally limited to monitoring action potentials. But use of extracellular gold microelectrodes with microspines that are engulfed by a neuron generates efficient electrical coupling and allows detection of both action potentials and subthreshold synaptic potentials with a signal-to-noise ratio similar to that of conventional intracellular recordings.

    • Aviad Hai
    • , Joseph Shappir
    •  & Micha E Spira

  • Research Highlights |

    A miniature head-mounted two-photon microscope small enough for a rat to carry allows researchers to visualize neuronal signaling while the animal freely interacts with its environment.

    • Daniel Evanko

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