Here’s a group of four recent papers that are worth checking out but I don’t have the time to cover. The first provides a set of tools for neuronal circuit tracing. The second pushes super-resolution imaging into fast, live-cell imaging. The third, by a friend from graduate school, uses G-CaMP to make strong claims about olfactory coding in fruit flies. The last reports remarkable data pointing to the distributed nature of conscious perception in humans, which would have been a great data set to reference in my recent talk on free will.
Genetically timed, activity-sensor and rainbow transsynaptic viral tools
We developed retrograde, transsynaptic pseudorabies viruses (PRVs) with genetically encoded activity sensors that optically report the activity of connected neurons among spatially intermingled neurons in the brain. Next we engineered PRVs to express two differentially colored fluorescent proteins in a time-shifted manner to define a time period early after infection to investigate neural activity. Finally we used multiple-colored PRVs to differentiate and dissect the complex architecture of brain regions.
Super-resolution video microscopy of live cells by structured illumination
Structured-illumination microscopy can double the resolution of the widefield fluorescence microscope but has previously been too slow for dynamic live imaging. Here we demonstrate a high-speed structured-illumination microscope that is capable of 100-nm resolution at frame rates up to 11 Hz for several hundred time points. We demonstrate the microscope by video imaging of tubulin and kinesin dynamics in living Drosophila melanogaster S2 cells in the total internal reflection mode.
Select Drosophila glomeruli mediate innate olfactory attraction and aversion.
Fruitflies show robust attraction to food odours, which usually excite several glomeruli. To understand how the representation of such odours leads to behaviour, we used genetic tools to dissect the contribution of each activated glomerulus. Apple cider vinegar triggers robust innate attraction at a relatively low concentration, which activates six glomeruli. By silencing individual glomeruli, here we show that the absence of activity in two glomeruli, DM1 and VA2, markedly reduces attraction. Conversely, when each of these two glomeruli was selectively activated, flies showed as robust an attraction to vinegar as wild-type flies. Notably, a higher concentration of vinegar excites an additional glomerulus and is less attractive to flies. We show that activation of the extra glomerulus is necessary and sufficient to mediate the behavioural switch. Together, these results indicate that individual glomeruli, rather than the entire pattern of active glomeruli, mediate innate behavioural output.
Movement Intention After Parietal Cortex Stimulation in Humans
Parietal and premotor cortex regions are serious contenders for bringing motor intentions and motor responses into awareness. We used electrical stimulation in seven patients undergoing awake brain surgery. Stimulating the right inferior parietal regions triggered a strong intention and desire to move the contralateral hand, arm, or foot, whereas stimulating the left inferior parietal region provoked the intention to move the lips and to talk. When stimulation intensity was increased in parietal areas, participants believed they had really performed these movements, although no electromyographic activity was detected. Stimulation of the premotor region triggered overt mouth and contralateral limb movements. Yet, patients firmly denied that they had moved. Conscious intention and motor awareness thus arise from increased parietal activity before movement execution.
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