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Reverse engineering the mouse brain

Nature volume 461, pages 923–929 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Behaviour is governed by activity in highly structured neural circuits. Genetically targeted sensors and switches facilitate measurement and manipulation of activity in vivo, linking activity in defined nodes of neural circuits to behaviour. Because of access to specific cell types, these molecular tools will have the largest impact in genetic model systems such as the mouse. Emerging assays of mouse behaviour are beginning to rival those of behaving monkeys in terms of stimulus and behavioural control. We predict that the confluence of new behavioural and molecular tools in the mouse will reveal the logic of complex mammalian circuits.

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Figure 1: Major excitatory pathways in the mouse somatosensory cortex and genetic access to the cell types.
Figure 2: Monitoring the activity of large neuronal populations with a genetically encoded calcium indicator.
Figure 3: Tactile object localization in the head-fixed mouse.
Figure 4: Manipulating groups of neurons on the basis of their response type.

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Acknowledgements

We thank E. Boyden, G. Buzsaki, A. Hires, Z. Mainen, S. Peron, L. Petreanu, D. Rinberg and T. Sato for comments on the manuscript, and L. Tian and L. Looger for the genetically encoded calcium indicator (GCaMP3) used in Fig. 2.

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  1. Janelia Farm Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, 20147, Virginia, USA

    Daniel H. O'Connor, Daniel Huber & Karel Svoboda

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Correspondence should be addressed to K.S. (svobodak@janelia.hhmi.org).

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O'Connor, D., Huber, D. & Svoboda, K. Reverse engineering the mouse brain. Nature 461, 923–929 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08539

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