Exploring the brain circuit principles using nerve fiber imaging

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26250003
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Neurophysiology / General neuroscience
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Ikegaya Yuji 東京大学, 大学院薬学系研究科(薬学部), 教授 (10302613)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 神経線維 / 樹状突起 / 軸索 / カルシウム

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We devised and improved the optical system, which now allows us to image over 300 spines at a high speed of 100 Hz. Using this new technology:
i) we captured dendritic computations of pyramidal cells of the Hippocampal CA3 field. Large-scale analyses of the dendritic computations in terms of the circuit operation principle revealed that the balance between excitatory and inhitibory inputs collapsed locally. We published these results in Cell Reports.
ii) Hippocampal CA1 neurons that had been activated by environmental exploration were reactivated by specific synchronous inputs from precisely woven neuronal circuits in the upstream CA3 field. Using optical time-lapse imaging of dendrites, we discovered that the precision of cells to be activated gradually increases by repeating the synchronous activity itself. We published these results in Science.

Free Research Field

神経科学