Neurobiology
High-content screening of primary neurons: ready for prime time.
Publication Date: 2009 Nov 2 PMID: 19889533
Authors: Daub, A. - Sharma, P. - Finkbeiner, S.
Journal: Curr Opin Neurobiol
High-content screening (HCS), historically limited to drug-development companies, is now a powerful and affordable technology for academic researchers. Through automated routines, this technology acquires large datasets of fluorescence images depicting the functional states of thousands to millions of cells. Information on shapes, textures, intensities, and localizations is then used to create unique representations, or 'phenotypic signatures,' of each cell. These signatures quantify physiologic or diseased states, for example, dendritic arborization, drug response, or cell coping strategies. Live-cell imaging in HCS adds the ability to correlate cellular events at different points in time, thereby allowing sensitivities and observations not possible with fixed endpoint analysis. HCS with live-cell imaging therefore provides an unprecedented capability to detect spatiotemporal changes in cells and is particularly suited for time-dependent, stochastic processes such as neurodegenerative disorders.
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Authors: Daub, A. - Sharma, P. - Finkbeiner, S.
Journal: Curr Opin Neurobiol
High-content screening (HCS), historically limited to drug-development companies, is now a powerful and affordable technology for academic researchers. Through automated routines, this technology acquires large datasets of fluorescence images depicting the functional states of thousands to millions of cells. Information on shapes, textures, intensities, and localizations is then used to create unique representations, or 'phenotypic signatures,' of each cell. These signatures quantify physiologic or diseased states, for example, dendritic arborization, drug response, or cell coping strategies. Live-cell imaging in HCS adds the ability to correlate cellular events at different points in time, thereby allowing sensitivities and observations not possible with fixed endpoint analysis. HCS with live-cell imaging therefore provides an unprecedented capability to detect spatiotemporal changes in cells and is particularly suited for time-dependent, stochastic processes such as neurodegenerative disorders.
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The functional brain architecture of human morality.
Publication Date: 2009 Nov 2 PMID: 19889532
Authors: Funk, C. M. - Gazzaniga, M. S.
Journal: Curr Opin Neurobiol
Human morality provides the foundation for many of the pillars of society, informing political legislation and guiding legal decisions while also governing everyday social interactions. In the past decade, researchers in the field of cognitive neuroscience have made tremendous progress in the effort to understand the neural basis of human morality. The emerging insights from this research point toward a model in which automatic processing in parallel neural circuits, many of which are associated with social emotions, evaluate the actions and intentions of others. Through various mechanisms of competition, only a subset of these circuits ultimately causes a decision or an action. This activity is experienced consciously as a subjective moral sense of right or wrong, and an interpretive process offers post hoc explanations designed to link the social stimulus with the subjective moral response using whatever explicit information is available.
post to: CiteULike
Authors: Funk, C. M. - Gazzaniga, M. S.
Journal: Curr Opin Neurobiol
Human morality provides the foundation for many of the pillars of society, informing political legislation and guiding legal decisions while also governing everyday social interactions. In the past decade, researchers in the field of cognitive neuroscience have made tremendous progress in the effort to understand the neural basis of human morality. The emerging insights from this research point toward a model in which automatic processing in parallel neural circuits, many of which are associated with social emotions, evaluate the actions and intentions of others. Through various mechanisms of competition, only a subset of these circuits ultimately causes a decision or an action. This activity is experienced consciously as a subjective moral sense of right or wrong, and an interpretive process offers post hoc explanations designed to link the social stimulus with the subjective moral response using whatever explicit information is available.
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Expanding the mirror: vicarious activity for actions, emotions, and sensations.
Publication Date: 2009 Oct 30 PMID: 19880311
Authors: Keysers, C. - Gazzola, V.
Journal: Curr Opin Neurobiol
We often empathically share the states of others. The discovery of 'mirror neurons' suggested a neural mechanism for monkeys to share the actions of others. Here we expand this view by showing that mirror neurons for actions not only exist in the premotor cortex or in monkeys and that vicarious activity can also be measured for the emotions and sensations of others. Although we still need to empirically explore the function and development of these vicarious activations, we should stop thinking of vicarious brain activity as a peculiar property of the premotor cortex: instead it seems to be a very common phenomenon which leads social stimuli to recruit a wide range of seemingly private neural systems.
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Authors: Keysers, C. - Gazzola, V.
Journal: Curr Opin Neurobiol
We often empathically share the states of others. The discovery of 'mirror neurons' suggested a neural mechanism for monkeys to share the actions of others. Here we expand this view by showing that mirror neurons for actions not only exist in the premotor cortex or in monkeys and that vicarious activity can also be measured for the emotions and sensations of others. Although we still need to empirically explore the function and development of these vicarious activations, we should stop thinking of vicarious brain activity as a peculiar property of the premotor cortex: instead it seems to be a very common phenomenon which leads social stimuli to recruit a wide range of seemingly private neural systems.
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Look who is weaving the neural web: glial control of synapse formation.
Publication Date: 2009 Oct 28 PMID: 19879129
Authors: Bolton, M. M. - Eroglu, C.
Journal: Curr Opin Neurobiol
Historically, our understanding of synapse formation has been shaped by studies focusing on neurons. However, with advancements in live imaging techniques and molecular and genetic tools we are rapidly uncovering new roles for glia in synapse formation and function. Contact-mediated signals from glia instruct dendrites to become receptive to synaptic partners. Glia-secreted factors coordinate the assembly and apposition of pre-synaptic and post-synaptic specializations. Glial cells also provide cues that are required for synaptic maturation and remodeling of spines both during development and in the adult. As we continue to learn about glial contributions to synapse formation and maintenance, it is likely that glia-derived signals will emerge as potential therapeutic targets for diseases that involve aberrant circuit function such as autism, epilepsy and Alzheimer's Disease.
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Authors: Bolton, M. M. - Eroglu, C.
Journal: Curr Opin Neurobiol
Historically, our understanding of synapse formation has been shaped by studies focusing on neurons. However, with advancements in live imaging techniques and molecular and genetic tools we are rapidly uncovering new roles for glia in synapse formation and function. Contact-mediated signals from glia instruct dendrites to become receptive to synaptic partners. Glia-secreted factors coordinate the assembly and apposition of pre-synaptic and post-synaptic specializations. Glial cells also provide cues that are required for synaptic maturation and remodeling of spines both during development and in the adult. As we continue to learn about glial contributions to synapse formation and maintenance, it is likely that glia-derived signals will emerge as potential therapeutic targets for diseases that involve aberrant circuit function such as autism, epilepsy and Alzheimer's Disease.
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Optical probing of neuronal ensemble activity.
Publication Date: 2009 Oct 22 PMID: 19854041
Authors: Grewe, B. F. - Helmchen, F.
Journal: Curr Opin Neurobiol
Neural computations are implemented in densely interconnected networks of excitable neurons as temporal sequences of coactive neuronal ensembles. Ensemble activity is produced by the interaction of external stimuli with internal states but has been difficult to directly study in the past. Currently, high-resolution optical imaging techniques are emerging as powerful tools to investigate neuronal ensembles in living animals and to characterize their spatiotemporal properties. Here we review recent advances of two-photon calcium imaging and highlight ongoing technical improvements as well as emerging applications. Significant progress has been made in the extent and speed of imaging and in the adaptation of imaging techniques to awake animals. These advances facilitate studies of the functional organization of local neural networks, their experience-dependent reconfiguration, and their functional impairment in diseases. Optical probing of neuronal ensemble dynamics in vivo thus promises to reveal fundamental principles of neural circuit function and dysfunction.
post to: CiteULike
Authors: Grewe, B. F. - Helmchen, F.
Journal: Curr Opin Neurobiol
Neural computations are implemented in densely interconnected networks of excitable neurons as temporal sequences of coactive neuronal ensembles. Ensemble activity is produced by the interaction of external stimuli with internal states but has been difficult to directly study in the past. Currently, high-resolution optical imaging techniques are emerging as powerful tools to investigate neuronal ensembles in living animals and to characterize their spatiotemporal properties. Here we review recent advances of two-photon calcium imaging and highlight ongoing technical improvements as well as emerging applications. Significant progress has been made in the extent and speed of imaging and in the adaptation of imaging techniques to awake animals. These advances facilitate studies of the functional organization of local neural networks, their experience-dependent reconfiguration, and their functional impairment in diseases. Optical probing of neuronal ensemble dynamics in vivo thus promises to reveal fundamental principles of neural circuit function and dysfunction.
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MicroRNAs in brain development and physiology.
Publication Date: 2009 Oct 19 PMID: 19846291
Authors: Coolen, M. - Bally-Cuif, L.
Journal: Curr Opin Neurobiol
The crucial role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in brain development is demonstrated by the dramatic apoptotic phenotypes of mouse mutants abolishing all miRNAs synthesis. Recent advances in Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila, zebrafish and mouse moved beyond this global understanding by targeting selected miRNAs. They indicate that single miRNAs successively modulate all steps of brain maturation, including patterning, neurogenesis, neuronal differentiation and subtype specification, and neuronal activity. In detail, they reveal an amazing functional complexity: specific miRNAs can either be used reiteratively, such as miR-9 in patterning, neurogenesis and differentiation, or concomitantly target different mRNAs in distinct cellular compartments, such as Pumilio or Limk1 that can be inhibited by miR-134 to control neuritogenesis or spine growth, respectively. Their regulation can be composite, either through multiple loci (miR-9) or in blocks of numerous miRNAs (miR-134). A major step remains to decipher their impact on brain function, in particular in the control of behaviour.
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Authors: Coolen, M. - Bally-Cuif, L.
Journal: Curr Opin Neurobiol
The crucial role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in brain development is demonstrated by the dramatic apoptotic phenotypes of mouse mutants abolishing all miRNAs synthesis. Recent advances in Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila, zebrafish and mouse moved beyond this global understanding by targeting selected miRNAs. They indicate that single miRNAs successively modulate all steps of brain maturation, including patterning, neurogenesis, neuronal differentiation and subtype specification, and neuronal activity. In detail, they reveal an amazing functional complexity: specific miRNAs can either be used reiteratively, such as miR-9 in patterning, neurogenesis and differentiation, or concomitantly target different mRNAs in distinct cellular compartments, such as Pumilio or Limk1 that can be inhibited by miR-134 to control neuritogenesis or spine growth, respectively. Their regulation can be composite, either through multiple loci (miR-9) or in blocks of numerous miRNAs (miR-134). A major step remains to decipher their impact on brain function, in particular in the control of behaviour.
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Neuroaesthetics: a review.
Publication Date: 2009 Oct 12 PMID: 19828312
Authors: Cinzia, D. D. - Vittorio, G.
Journal: Curr Opin Neurobiol
Neuroaesthetics is a relatively young field within cognitive neuroscience, concerned with the neural underpinnings of aesthetic experience of beauty, particularly in visual art. Neuroscientific investigations have approached this area using imaging and neurophysiological techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance (fMRI), magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG). The results produced so far are very heterogeneous. Nonetheless, an overall view of the findings suggests that the aesthetic experience of visual artworks is characterized by the activation of: sensorimotor areas; core emotional centres; and reward-related centres. In the present review, we discuss the functional relevance of these activations and propose that aesthetic experience is a multilevel process exceeding a purely visual analysis of artworks and relying upon visceromotor and somatomotor resonance in the beholder.
post to: CiteULike
Authors: Cinzia, D. D. - Vittorio, G.
Journal: Curr Opin Neurobiol
Neuroaesthetics is a relatively young field within cognitive neuroscience, concerned with the neural underpinnings of aesthetic experience of beauty, particularly in visual art. Neuroscientific investigations have approached this area using imaging and neurophysiological techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance (fMRI), magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG). The results produced so far are very heterogeneous. Nonetheless, an overall view of the findings suggests that the aesthetic experience of visual artworks is characterized by the activation of: sensorimotor areas; core emotional centres; and reward-related centres. In the present review, we discuss the functional relevance of these activations and propose that aesthetic experience is a multilevel process exceeding a purely visual analysis of artworks and relying upon visceromotor and somatomotor resonance in the beholder.
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From Wikipedia,
Neurobiology is the study of cells of the nervous system and the organization of these cells into functional circuits that process information and mediate behavior.[1] It is a subdiscipline of both biology and neuroscience. Neurobiology differs from neuroscience, a much broader field that is concerned with any scientific study of the nervous system. Neurobiology should also not be confused with other subdisciplines of neuroscience such as computational neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, behavioral neuroscience, biological psychiatry, neurology, and neuropsychology despite the overlap with these subdisciplines. Scientists that study neurobiology are called neurobiologists.
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