Mapping functional and anatomical whole-brain connectome of larval zebrafish
作者单位：Institute of Neuroscience State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology Chinese Academy of Sciences
会议名称：《中国神经科学学会第十二届全国学术会议》
会议日期：2017年
学科分类：0710[理学-生物学] 07[理学] 071006[理学-神经生物学]
关 键 词：neural circuit calcium imaging optogenetics sensory behavior connectome zebrafish
摘 要：Zebrafish is a relatively new vertebrate animal model with a conserved brain architecture and rich repertoire of behaviors. Due to the transparency and simplicity of the brain, larval zebrafish has emerged as an ideal model for dissecting brain functions at a whole-brain scale based on a strategy from synapses, neurons, circuitries to behaviors. For this purpose, our lab has developed multiple in vivo assays tailored for system neuroscience research with larval zebrafish and studied neural mechanisms underlying visuomotor processing and behavior generation. Using in vivo light-sheet calcium imaging, we can simultaneously monitor the activity of all neurons(10 neurons) in the larval brain and animal behaviors in response to sensory stimuli and search for relevant functional neuronal ensembles. Optogenetics can be then performed to manipulate the activity of the neuronal ensemble to study the causality between the ensemble and behavior. In vivo whole-cell recording of neurons in the ensemble can be further performed to explore underlying synaptic and circuit mechanisms. Furthermore, by combining CRISPR/Cas9-based knockin, single-cell electroporation and virus-based tracing, the brain-wide projections and even synaptic partners of the neuronal ensemble can be figured out. By using this strategy, the brain-wide anatomical and functional connectomes of neural circuits underlying behaviors can be systematically elucidated.