神经生物学

CASK, a scaffolding protein present in neuronal synapses and other cell junctions, contains a CaM-kinase domain at its N terminus. Due to lack of adequate biochemical data and based on bioinformatics, this domain was classified as a pseudokinase. But new evidence suggests that CASK is a unique ki ...

A major axis of inter-individual behavioral variation is correlated behavioral traits, known variously as behavioral syndromes, personality, or temperament. The zebrafish is a good model organism with which to explore the molecular genetic mechanisms of personality. The first st ...

The zebrafish model is being increasingly used in stress and anxiety research. The homologue of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been found in fish and is referred to as the hypothalamic-pituitary-�interrenal (HPI) axis. HPA (mammalian) and HPI (fish) axes are homolog ...

A primary goal in neuroscience is to understand how the brain gives rise to innate and learned behavior. One way to expand the contributions of zebrafish in this respect is to use a computerized system that can train larval zebrafish in various behavior assays. This will allow more efficient genetic ...

The study of diseases of the nervous system relies heavily on the use of animal models which try to replicate the human condition via various methods. The underlying assumption is that the root causes of the impairment are similar in the animal model and the human patient, thus validating the findings ...

Nerve injury and/or disease are known to provoke the release of various neurotrophic and inflammatory agents from spinal microglia and astrocytes. Prolonged exposure of spinal neurons to these ‘nociceptive mediators’ invokes pathophysiological changes that lead to the ‘centr ...

Artificially perfused brainstem preparations have several advantages over both in vivo and superfused en bloc preparations for studying respiratory circuits. They allow the analysis of neuronal function without confounding influences of anesthesia and major peripheral f ...

Neuronal networks can be properly analyzed in experimental preparations that preserve the largest �connectivity within and between brain structures. The isolated whole guinea pig brain maintained in vitro by arterial perfusion is ideal for this purpose. The methods and techniques ...

Rises of cytosolic Ca2+ (Cai) associated with early network oscillations (ENOs) are important for brain maturation. Thus, developing neural networks are often studied by combining Cai imaging with electrophysiological recording of extracellular activity and/or intracellu ...

In vitro preparations of one whole hippocampus or one entire neocortical hemisphere (so-called intact preparations) combine the technical possibilities of conventional in vitro slice preparations with the advantage of a preserved intrinsic connectivity of a defined brain reg ...

Central mammalian neurons often show spontaneous discharge of single action potentials at regular rate. Several types of such ‘tonic’ neurons are involved in sensing or control of the intake and processing of food. Brain slices containing tonically active hypothalamic neurons are one ...

Understanding mammalian neural networks such as the central pattern generator (CPG) for locomotion requires the use of multiple experimental models. In vitro approaches provide easy access to the spinal cord, thus allowing more experimental tools to be used. In this chapter, some estab ...

En bloc and transversal slice preparations from perinatal rodents are established in vitro models for studying control of breathing by neurons and neighboring glial cells in the lower brainstem. These neural “respiratory networks in the dish” show features complementary with those in ...

Emergence of neuronal membrane excitability (e.g., voltage-gated ion conductances) and spontaneous electrical activity (e.g., spontaneous firing of action potentials) is an imperative for the normal development and maturation of brain circuits. Understanding the interplay ...

GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid)-ergic interneurons are a structurally and functionally diverse group of cells that, together, regulate the activity of neuronal networks giving rise to the brain oscillations necessary for information processing. The phenotypes of GABAergic neuro ...

In mammals, the part of the nervous system responsible for most circadian behavior can be localized to a bilaterally paired structure in the hypothalamus known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Understanding this mammalian circadian system will require a detailed multilevel an ...

Purkinje cells of the cerebellar cortex and neurons in the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN) were among the first central neurons to be studied extensively through the use of in vitro preparations. Yet, the degree to which the patterns of action potential (“spike”) output recorded in these cells in vitro ...

Osmoregulatory neural networks in the mammalian hypothalamus are responsible for keeping plasma osmolality near a constant set point. This process involves primary osmosensory neurons located in the organum vasculosum lamina terminalis (OVLT) and effector neurons located e ...

The cerebral cortex in vivo generates different patterns of rhythmic activities with frequency rates ranging from below 1 Hz to fast frequencies well above 10 Hz. Some of these activities occur in the absence of external input and are a consequence of recurrent connectivity within the cortic ...

Self-motion is often a major component of sensation. Comprehensive understanding of natural sensory processing in neural systems thus requires neural recording be coupled to high-resolution observation of behavior. The rodent vibrissa (whisker) system has several advantag ...