Dissecting Neuronal Activation on a Brain-Wide Scale With Immediate Early Genes

Year: 2020

Authors: Franceschini A., Costantini I., Pavone FS., Silvestri L.

Autors Affiliation: European Lab Nonlinear Spect LENS, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Natl Res Council INO CNR, Natl Inst Opt, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Univ Florence, Dept Phys & Astron, Florence, Italy

Abstract: Visualizing neuronal activation on a brain-wide scale yet with cellular resolution is a fundamental technical challenge for neuroscience. This would enable analyzing how different neuronal circuits are disrupted in pathology and how they could be rescued by pharmacological treatments. Although this goal would have appeared visionary a decade ago, recent technological advances make it eventually feasible. Here, we review the latest developments in the fields of genetics, sample preparation, imaging, and image analysis that could be combined to afford whole-brain cell-resolution activation mapping. We show how the different biochemical and optical methods have been coupled to study neuronal circuits at different spatial and temporal scales, and with cell-type specificity. The inventory of techniques presented here could be useful to find the tools best suited for a specific experiment. We envision that in the next years, mapping of neuronal activation could become routine in many laboratories, allowing dissecting the neuronal counterpart of behavior.

Journal/Review: FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE

Volume: 14      Pages from: 569517-1  to: 569517-17

More Information: Authors received funding from the European Union´s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under grant agreements No. 785907 (Human Brain Project) and 654148 (LaserlabEurope), from the EU Program H2020 EXCELLENT SCIENCEEuropean Research Council (ERC) under grant agreement ID No. 692943 (BrainBIT), and from Fondazione CR Firenze (Private Foundation).
KeyWords: immediate early genes; tissue clearing; light-sheet microscopy; high-throughput microscopy; image analysis; whole-brain mapping
DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.569517

Citations: 26
data from “WEB OF SCIENCE” (of Thomson Reuters) are update at: 2024-04-14
References taken from IsiWeb of Knowledge: (subscribers only)
Connecting to view paper tab on IsiWeb: Click here
Connecting to view citations from IsiWeb: Click here