Summary: Researchers have uncovered key organizational principles in the brain thanks to sophisticated mapping of neurotransmitter receptors.
The team studying the macaque brain provided a deeper understanding of how our brain differentiates between internally and externally stimulated thoughts and emotions.
Their comprehensive dataset, now publicly available, offers a unique perspective on the micro and macro workings of the brain.
The findings not only promise to improve our understanding of normal brain functionality, but could also guide the development of new treatments targeting specific brain functions.
Key facts:
- The team mapped neurotransmitter receptors in the brains of macaques, a breakthrough that could help us understand how the brain differentiates between internal and external stimuli.
- A detailed map of these brain “traffic lights” could open the door to understanding brain functions in depth and potentially guide the development of new treatments.
- The resulting comprehensive dataset, which has been made publicly available, bridges different scales of neuroscience and may help bridge the gap between microscopic and whole-brain neuroscience studies.
source: University of Bristol
Receptor patterns define key organizational principles in the brain, scientists have found.
An international team of researchers studying macaque brains have mapped neurotransmitter receptors, revealing a potential role in distinguishing internal thoughts and emotions from those generated by external influences.
By understanding receptor organization in the brain, it is hoped that new research can better link brain activity, behavior and drug action. Credit: Neuroscience NewsThe comprehensive data set has been made publicly available, serving as a bridge connecting different scales of neuroscience, from the microscopic to the whole brain.
Lead author Sean Freudist-Walsh, from the University of Bristol’s Department of Computer Science, explained: “Imagine the brain as a city. In recent years, research on the brain has focused on studying its pathways, but in this study we have made the most detailed map yet of the traffic lights – the neurotransmitter receptors – that control the flow of information.
“We discovered patterns in how these ‘traffic lights’ are arranged that help us understand their function in perception, memory and emotion.
“It’s like finding the key to city traffic and opens up exciting possibilities for understanding how the normal brain works.”
“Potentially, in the future, other researchers can use these maps to target specific brain networks and functions with new drugs.”
“Our study aimed to create the most detailed map of these ‘traffic lights’ to date.”
The team used a technique called in-vitro receptor autoradiography to map the density of receptors from six different neurotransmitter systems in over 100 brain regions.
To discover the patterns in this vast data, they apply statistical techniques and use advanced neuroimaging techniques combined with expert anatomical knowledge. This allowed them to uncover the connections between receptor patterns, brain connectivity and anatomy.
By understanding receptor organization in the brain, it is hoped that new research can better link brain activity, behavior and drug action.
Additionally, because the receptors are drug targets, the research may in the future guide the development of new treatments that target specific brain functions.
Dr Froudist-Walsh added: “We then aim to use this dataset to develop computational models of the brain.
“These brain-inspired neural network models will help us understand normal perception and memory, as well as differences in people with diseases such as schizophrenia or under the influence of substances such as ‘magic mushrooms.’
“We also plan to better integrate the findings across species – linking detailed circuit-level neuroscience, often conducted in rodents, with large-scale brain activity seen in humans.”
The creation of openly accessible maps of receptor expression in the cerebral cortex that integrate neuroimaging data may accelerate cross-species translation.
“It is being made freely available to the neuroscience community through the Human Brain Project’s EBRAINS infrastructure so that it can be used by other computational neuroscientists aiming to create other biologically informed models,” added Nicola Palomero-Gallagher, HBP researcher at Forschungszentrum Jülich and senior author of the article.
The global team of researchers is from the University of Bristol, New York University, the Human Brain Project, the Julich Research Center, the University of Düsseldorf, the Institute for Child Consciousness and the Universite Paris Cite.
About this neuroscience research news
Author: Laura Thomas
source: University of Bristol
Contact: Laura Thomas – University of Bristol
Image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Free access.
“Gradients of neurotransmitter receptor expression in macaque cortex” by Sean Froudist-Walsh et al. Nature Neurology
Summary
Gradients of neurotransmitter receptor expression in macaque cortex
The dynamics and functions of neural circuits depend on receptor-mediated interactions. Therefore, a comprehensive map of receptor organization in cortical regions is needed. In this study, we used in vitro receptor autoradiography to measure the density of 14 neurotransmitter receptor types in 109 areas of macaque cortex.
We integrated the receptor data with anatomical, genetic, and functional connectivity data in a common cortical space. We found a major gradient of receptor expression per neuron. This aligns with the cortical hierarchy from the sensory cortex to higher cognitive areas.
A second gradient driven by serotonin 5-HT1A receptors, spikes in the anterior cingulate, default mode, and salience networks. We found a similar pattern for 5-HT1A expression in the human brain. Thus, the macaque may be a promising translational model of serotonergic processing and disorders.
Receptor gradients may enable rapid, reliable information processing in sensory cortical areas and slow, flexible integration in higher cognitive areas.