Visualisation of functionally activated circuitry in the brain

我们正在寻求一种方法，以准确地确定大脑的哪些部分参与执行不同的大脑功能。我们新方法的主要优势将是我们将能够直接可视化特定大脑功能所涉及的电路。大脑就像一台巨大的计算机，不同部分之间有数十亿个连接，正是这些连接被用来形成功能电路，最终导致大脑控制身体功能。到目前为止，还没有直接的方法能够直接可视化这些数十亿个连接中的哪些参与了任何特定大脑功能的电路的形成。我们计划使用遗传学方法来帮助可视化功能激活的大脑回路。我们知道，一些基因在神经细胞中被激活，这些神经细胞在大脑功能期间被激活。我们将利用这一知识来培育一种新的转基因小鼠。在这些小鼠中，在大脑激活过程中被激活的基因将被用来打开特殊的标记，这些标记将照亮激活的电路。这将对我们理解大脑功能具有重要意义。它还应该帮助我们了解这些回路在不同的大脑疾病中发生了什么，例如中风后、衰老和阿尔茨海默病。

We are seeking to develop a method to precisely determine which parts of the brain are involved in the carrying out of different brain functions. The main advantage of our new method will be that we will be able to directly visualise the circuitry involved in a specified brain function. The brain is like a vast computer, with literally billions of connections between different parts, and it is these connections which are used to form functional circuits, which ultimately result in the brain control of bodily function. Up until now, there has been no direct way of being able to directly visualise which of those billions of connections are involved in the formation of a circuit for any particular brain function. We plan to use a genetic approach to help to visualise functionally activated brain circuits. We know that some genes are turned on in the nerve cells which are activated during a brain function. We will use this knowledge to generate a new line of genetically engineered mice. In these mice, the genes which are turned on during brain activation will in turn be used to turn on special markers which will light up the activated circuits. This will be of great signficance in our understanding of brain function. It should also help us to understand what happens to these circuits in different diseases of the brain, such as following stroke, in senility, and Alzheimer's disease.