Visualizing the Golgi-stained mouse brain

Visualizing nervous systems, both the raw images and their reconstructions, is a hot field for a good reason. Once we have these sort of maps we’ll be able to make much more precisely quantitative statements about how the information flow in neuronal networks is constrained. On this front, in Nov ’11 Chung et al published a [...]

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The paradigm of differential network interactions

It is quite common in biology (and neuroscience, as a special case) for researchers to employ differential gene expression analysis, which produces lists of up- and down-regulated genes between a given set of conditions. And as Ideker and Krogan point out in their Jan ’12 paper, this principle has already been extended to differential protein expression [...]

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Odor recognition coding by mice olfactory neurons

In mice, each olfactory neuron expresses exactly one of ~ 1000 types of olfactory receptors. Through combinatorial coding, the system is able to recognize a wide range of odors and their combinations. But how exactly is this diversity of responses achieved? Nara et al. recently set out to answer this question. They put dissociated mice [...]

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Harnessing DNA sequencing to understand neuronal network activity

What has been the growth rate of computing power, multi-neuron recording, and DNA sequencing over the past decade? Konrad Kording provides an illuminating chart pertaining to this question: Given the above DNA sequencing trends, it’s no surprise that groups in many different fields are developing strategies to turn the problem they are trying to study [...]

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