The cortex is divided into functionally distinct regions, and the layers of the visual cortex are a classic example. But how much do the intrinsic electrical properties of a particular neuron type vary from region to region? In a recent paper in J. Neurosci., Brandeis Neuroscience graduate students Mark Miller and Ben Okaty together with Prof. Sacha Nelson found a new region-specific firing type in Layer 5 pyramidal neurons. They argue that features as basic as membrane properties can be region-specific, and that this regional specialization of circuitry contributes to the determination of the region’s functional specialization.
How regions of the brain get their specificity
December 19, 2008 By
Rise and shine, little fly
December 2, 2008 By
Most animals sleep, but why they sleep and how the brain generates sleep is mysterious. In a recent study published in Neuron, postdoc Katherine Parisky and colleagues use genetic tools to manipulate the activity of neurons that control sleep in flies. Their results demonstrate that in the fly sleep is generated by GABAergic inhibition of a small cluster of peptidergic neurons within the circadian clock. Flies carrying mutations in this peptide, PDF, or its receptor, are hypersomnolent, similar to human narcoleptics who have defective signaling by the peptide hypocretin/orexin. These results suggest that the circuit architecture used to control arousal is ancient.
See also:
Sex-specificity of behavior in the fruit fly
November 19, 2008 By
What makes a male fly act like a guy?
Adriana Villella and Jeff Hall discuss the neurogenetics of courtship and mating in Drosophila in a new review.
New Sengupta Lab Website
November 14, 2008 By
The Sengupta Lab website has been updated with lots of new imagery. Check it out!
Annual Neuroscience Migration
November 13, 2008 By
As usual for this time of year, the Neuroscience labs will clear out as everyone goes to the Society for Neuroscience meeting. Leslie Griffith will be giving a Presidential Special Lecture on Sleep: Studying a Human Behavior in an Insect (Monday, 5:15 pm).
Here’s a list of Brandeis-affiliated posters and presentations.
Press from SFN:
The Self-Tuning Neuron
November 7, 2008 By
Gina Turrigiano discusses “The Self-Tuning Neuron” in a new review in Cell.
