September 2017

Sitting in a movie theater, we eat buttered popcorn from a bag with eyes fixed on the giant screen in front of us. Our hands move from bag to mouth without much conscious thought about the brain processes at work. Somehow, motor cortical areas in the brain coordinate movements of muscles while we remain engrossed

About ten years ago a group of neuroscientists led by Professor Ed Callaway realized they would soon be able to label all the presynaptic inputs to an individual neuron by using a modified rabies virus. The ability to map neural circuits and the direct synaptic inputs to individual neurons was unprecedented at the time and

Virus vectors are promising tools for delivering genes to the nervous system and are used for introducing genes which, when expressed, allow for the manipulation and monitoring of neurons. Selecting the best viral vector requires consideration of a number of factors like the duration over which the expression will be needed and the level of

For August, we selected 10 papers that cover the circuit mechanisms involved in a full spectrum of behaviors, including feeding, moving, sleeping, socializing, remembering, and scratching an itch. Most of the studies listed below record and manipulate activity in specific neuronal populations in freely moving mice. Three of the studies apply the Inscopix nVista system