An exciting tool to "see" the connections of millions of cells in the mouse brain

The researchers said that this new tool provides an unprecedented perspective to observe brain cell activity in synapses

"Being able to describe almost every synapse in the brain and observe changes in behavior is simply science fiction," Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Brain Science, also John Hopkins Said Dr.

The abstract of this study was published online for the first time on October 18, and the final form was published in the journal eLife on November 25

Researchers never thought they would be able to see brain activity on such a large scale

The space between brain cells or neurons is very small

When neurotransmitters pass through synapses and land on neurons, they activate AMPA glutamate receptors, a protein in the outer layer of neurons

Huganiel and other scientists have shown that synapses and the receptors embedded in them are key locations for learning in the brain

To study how synapses work, scientists usually grow brain cell samples in the laboratory to screen for increases or decreases in protein produced by the cells

In this study, the scientists inserted the GRIA1 gene into the DNA of mice to produce green light-emitting tags on all AMPA glutamate proteins

Then, the researchers twisted each mouse's beard and used a high-power microscope to track which bursts triggered green light and the brightness of the signal

Huganiel said that the amount of data generated by the new system is incredible

The researchers say that their current work is a proof-of-principle study that shows the capabilities of this synaptic imaging tool

Researchers also plan to use the tool to study the behavior, learning and memory of other mice, and to study how synapses change under specific conditions, such as aging, Alzheimer's and autism

Elena Lopez-Ortega, Alexei M Bygrave, Qianwen Zhu, Han L Tan, Richard H Roth, Austin R Graves, Ingie Hong, Alina C Spiegel, Richard C Johnson, Joshua T Vogelstein, Daniel J Tward, Michael I Miller, Richard L Huganir .