2011 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Developmental analysis of the neural activity in the left and right hemispheres using zebrafish

Research Project

Project/Area Number	21700370
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Neuroscience in general
Research Institution	The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research
Principal Investigator	AIZAWA Hidenori 独立行政法人理化学研究所, 発生遺伝子制御研究チーム, 客員主管研究員 (80391837)
Project Period (FY)	2009 – 2011
Keywords	左右差 / 非対称性 / 手綱核 / ゼブラフィッシュ
Research Abstract	We focused on the zebrafish habenular circuit showing the left-right asymmetry in the projection pattern to study the difference in neural connectivity and its activity between left and right hemispheres. Through the analyses, we were able to 1) visualize the difference in the activity of the cells in the left and right habenula with calcium imaging, 2) identify the fish homologue of mammalian medial and lateral habenulae by the hodological and gene expression analyses and 3) identify the output pathway of the interpeduncular nucleus which receives asymmetric projection from the dorsal habenula.