In vivo 2-photon imaging of the cerebral cortex in neonatal mice

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25640015
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Neurophysiology / General neuroscience
• Research Institution: National Institute of Genetics
• Principal Investigator: MIZUNO Hidenobu 国立遺伝学研究所, 個体遺伝研究系, 助教 (00567159)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: バレル / 樹状突起 / 体性感覚野 / 大脳皮質 / 2光子イメージング

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we analyzed the mechanism for neuronal circuit refinement in developing cerebral cortex, using the thalamocortical circuits in the barrel cortex as a model system.
We developed the “Supernova system” to label a sparse population of neurons in the brain and a method for in vivo time lapse imaging of developing barrel cortex. By using them, we found that cortical dendrites are highly motile during refinement of thalamocortical circuits, and that these dendritic dynamics are regulated by NMDA-type glutamate receptor functions.

Free Research Field

神経科学