Cell: Aiming at two neurons controls visual behavior

years, people have tried to improve or treat neurological disorders such as motor disorders such as Parkinson's or depression by electrocuting different areas of the brain. Thousands of people with neurological disorders have been able to ease their condition as a result. However, the treatment involves a large number of unknown neurons in the brain. Being able to precisely control a few neurons that control a disease may open the door to treating neuropathy.Recently, neuroscientistes at Columbia University for the first time controlled the visual behavior of mice by activating several neurons in their visual cortical layer. This study proves that specific collections of neurons have a causal relationship in behavior. The study was published in the journal Cell.Optical genetic techniques "light up" brain neuronsand researchers used new optical analysis tools to identify the entire cerebral cortique in mice during visual observations. This optical genetic technique, called "double photon imaging", has a very high resolution and can be accurate to single cells and simultaneously target selected different neurons to control mouse behavior.Dual photon imaging technology is a hot frontier technology in brain science research, which can create panoramic brain connection map and functional dynamic map. It breaks down barriers to scale at higher resolutions, linking microscopic neurons to individual behavior.Compared with single photon excitation, dual photon excitation has the advantages of good optical fault and deeper bio-tissue penetration. It is worth mentioning that dual photon lasers are generally lighter and can record dozens of neurons and thousands of synapses in real time on the skull window of a small animal.The researchers experimented with mice using double photon calcium imaging and double photogenetics of neural circuits. Calcium imaging can be used to track which neurons are active, and photogenetics is used to activate neurons at will. As a result, dual photon lasers were able to perform calcium imaging and photogenetics on the brains of mice with single-cell accuracy.Stimulating two neurons can control visual behaviorthe researchers first injected the mice with a virus to be able to observe neuron activity patterns in the brain. The mice were then placed under a double photon microscope to observe their brain activity while running on a small treadmill. Over a two-week period, the researchers trained mice to lick their mouths when they saw vertical bars, turning their visual stimuli into behavioral patterns. Every time a mouse sees a floating vertical bar appear on the video screen, they lick the water.When the mice linked visual stimuli to licking behavior, the researchers identified a collection of neurons in the mice's brains that responded to vertical stripes and re-stimulated them with a double photon laser. This repetitive stimulation allowes the mice more than expected and induces licking behavior even without visual stimulation, as if the mice had seen a vertical bar.The researchers then further identified neurons that control behavior. Simply stimulating two neurons can induce mice to lick their mouths."This is the most exciting work in my lab in decades because we've shown that cortical combinations are the key to behavior, and we can change animal behavior," said Rafael Yuste, senior author of the study and a professor of biological sciences at Columbia University. In addition, the data show that the collection of neurons is an internal symptom of visual stimuli. Thecould be of medical significance. Identification of physiologically related neurons with single-cell accuracy can be used to reorthorise patterns of activity between target neurons and reprogram the wrong neural circuits. This can help treat neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease or schizophrenia.It is worth noting that while the precise activation of task-related neurons improved animal performance, the activation of other neurons unrelated to the task inhibited behavioral activity.Lead author Luis Carrillo-Reid said: "We are far from using these methods to treat patients, but this study could provide a roadmap for precise reprogramming of the brain to bring neuroscience closer to clinical practice." (Biological exploration)