Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Current neural prostheses can translate neural activity into control signals for guiding prosthetic devices, but poor performance limits practical application. Here the authors present a new cursor-control algorithm that approaches native arm control speed and accuracy, permits sustained uninterrupted use for hours, generalizes to more challenging tasks and provides repeatable high performance for years after implantation, thereby increasing the clinical viability of neural prostheses.
Butko and colleagues report the invention of fluorescent and photo-oxidizing versions of a molecular probe named TimeSTAMP that allows temporal tagging of newly synthesized proteins of interest. The study uses these new tools to track basal and pharmacologically-induced synthesis of the synaptic protein PDS-95 in real time via live fluorescent imaging and/or with ultrastructural resolution using electron microscopy.
The authors generated a red, pH-sensitive fluorescent protein, pHTomato, which can be used to monitor neuronal activity alongside green reporters. When fused with the vesicular membrane protein synaptophysin, it can be used in parallel with the GFP-based GCaMP3 to image presynaptic transmitter release and Ca2+ transients simultaneously in the same neurons.
In this study, the authors direct human iPS and ES cells to adopt cortical progenitor and, subsequently, mature projection neurons with functional synaptic connections. This protocol is able to generate both deep and upper layer neurons in proper temporal order.
