primary motor cortex
Celebrating the Power of Connection This Holiday Season
Posted on by Lawrence Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D.
Happy holidays to one and all! This short science video brings to mind all those twinkling lights now brightening the night, as we mark the beginning of winter and shortest day of the year. This video also helps to remind us about the power of connection this holiday season.
It shows a motor neuron in a mouse’s primary motor cortex. In this portion of the brain, which controls voluntary movement, heavily branched neural projections interconnect, sending and receiving signals to and from distant parts of the body. A single motor neuron can receive thousands of inputs at a time from other branching sensory cells, depicted in the video as an array of blinking lights. It’s only through these connections—through open communication and cooperation—that voluntary movements are possible to navigate and enjoy our world in all its wonder. One neuron, like one person, can’t do it all alone.
This power of connection, captured in this award-winning video from the 2022 Show Us Your Brains Photo and Video contest, comes from Forrest Collman, Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle. The contest is part of NIH’s Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative.
In the version above, we’ve taken some liberties with the original video to enhance the twinkling lights from the synaptic connections. But creating the original was quite a task. Collman sifted through reams of data from high-resolution electron microscopy imaging of the motor cortex to masterfully reconstruct this individual motor neuron and its connections.
Those data came from The Machine Intelligence from Cortical Networks (MICrONS) program, supported by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA). It’s part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, one of NIH’s governmental collaborators in the BRAIN Initiative.
The MICrONS program aims to better understand the brain’s internal wiring. With this increased knowledge, researchers will develop more sophisticated machine learning algorithms for artificial intelligence applications, which will in turn advance fundamental basic science discoveries and the practice of life-saving medicine. For instance, these applications may help in the future to detect and evaluate a broad range of neural conditions, including those that affect the primary motor cortex.
Pretty cool stuff. So, as you spend this holiday season with friends and family, let this video and its twinkling lights remind you that there’s much more to the season than eating, drinking, and watching football games.
The holidays are very much about the power of connection for people of all faiths, beliefs, and traditions. It’s about taking time out from the everyday to join together to share memories of days gone by as we build new memories and stronger bonds of cooperation for the years to come. With this in mind, happy holidays to one and all.
Links:
“NIH BRAIN Initiative Unveils Detailed Atlas of the Mammalian Primary Motor Cortex,” NIH News Release, October 6, 2021
Forrest Collman (Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle)
Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative (NIH)
Show Us Your Brains Photo and Video Contest (BRAIN Initiative)
Tapping Into The Brain’s Primary Motor Cortex
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
If you’re like me, you might catch yourself during the day in front of a computer screen mindlessly tapping your fingers. (I always check first to be sure my mute button is on!) But all that tapping isn’t as mindless as you might think.
While a research participant performs a simple motor task, tapping her fingers together, this video shows blood flow within the folds of her brain’s primary motor cortex (gray and white), which controls voluntary movement. Areas of high brain activity (yellow and red) emerge in the omega-shaped “hand-knob” region, the part of the brain controlling hand movement (right of center) and then further back within the primary somatic cortex (which borders the motor cortex toward the back of the head).
About 38 seconds in, the right half of the video screen illustrates that the finger tapping activates both superficial and deep layers of the primary motor cortex. In contrast, the sensation of a hand being brushed (a sensory task) mostly activates superficial layers, where the primary sensory cortex is located. This fits with what we know about the superficial and deep layers of the hand-knob region, since they are responsible for receiving sensory input and generating motor output to control finger movements, respectively [1].
The video showcases a new technology called zoomed 7T perfusion functional MRI (fMRI). It was an entry in the recent Show Us Your BRAINs! Photo and Video Contest, supported by NIH’s Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative.
The technology is under development by an NIH-funded team led by Danny J.J. Wang, University of Southern California Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Los Angeles. Zoomed 7T perfusion fMRI was developed by Xingfeng Shao and brought to life by the group’s medical animator Jim Stanis.
Measuring brain activity using fMRI to track perfusion is not new. The brain needs a lot of oxygen, carried to it by arteries running throughout the head, to carry out its many complex functions. Given the importance of oxygen to the brain, you can think of perfusion levels, measured by fMRI, as a stand-in measure for neural activity.
There are two things that are new about zoomed 7T perfusion fMRI. For one, it uses the first ultrahigh magnetic field imaging scanner approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The technology also has high sensitivity for detecting blood flow changes in tiny arteries and capillaries throughout the many layers of the cortex [2].
Compared to previous MRI methods with weaker magnets, the new technique can measure blood flow on a fine-grained scale, enabling scientists to remove unwanted signals (“noise”) such as those from surface-level arteries and veins. Getting an accurate read-out of activity from region to region across cortical layers can help scientists understand human brain function in greater detail in health and disease.
Having shown that the technology works as expected during relatively mundane hand movements, Wang and his team are now developing the approach for fine-grained 3D mapping of brain activity throughout the many layers of the brain. This type of analysis, known as mesoscale mapping, is key to understanding dynamic activities of neural circuits that connect brain cells across cortical layers and among brain regions.
Decoding circuits, and ultimately rewiring them, is a major goal of NIH’s BRAIN Initiative. Zoomed 7T perfusion fMRI gives us a window into 4D biology, which is the ability to watch 3D objects over time scales in which life happens, whether it’s playing an elaborate drum roll or just tapping your fingers.
References:
[1] Neuroanatomical localization of the ‘precentral knob’ with computed tomography imaging. Park MC, Goldman MA, Park MJ, Friehs GM. Stereotact Funct Neurosurg. 2007;85(4):158-61.
[2]. Laminar perfusion imaging with zoomed arterial spin labeling at 7 Tesla. Shao X, Guo F, Shou Q, Wang K, Jann K, Yan L, Toga AW, Zhang P, Wang D.J.J bioRxiv 2021.04.13.439689.
Links:
Brain Basics: Know Your Brain (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
Laboratory of Functional MRI Technology (University of Southern California Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute)
The Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative (NIH)
Show Us Your BRAINs! Photo and Video Contest (BRAIN Initiative)
NIH Support: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering; Office of the Director
First Comprehensive Census of Cell Types in Brain Area Controlling Movement
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
The primary motor cortex is the part of the brain that enables most of our skilled movements, whether it’s walking, texting on our phones, strumming a guitar, or even spiking a volleyball. The region remains a major research focus, and that’s why NIH’s Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative – Cell Census Network (BICCN) has just unveiled two groundbreaking resources: a complete census of cell types present in the mammalian primary motor cortex, along with the first detailed atlas of the region, located along the back of the frontal lobe in humans (purple stripe above).
This remarkably comprehensive work, detailed in a flagship paper and more than a dozen associated articles published in the journal Nature, promises to vastly expand our understanding of the primary motor cortex and how it works to keep us moving [1]. The papers also represent the collaborative efforts of more than 250 BICCN scientists from around the world, teaming up over many years.
Started in 2013, the BRAIN Initiative is an ambitious project with a range of groundbreaking goals, including the creation of an open-access reference atlas that catalogues all of the brain’s many billions of cells. The primary motor cortex was one of the best places to get started on assembling an atlas because it is known to be well conserved across mammalian species, from mouse to human. There’s also a rich body of work to aid understanding of more precise cell-type information.
Taking advantage of recent technological advances in single-cell analysis, the researchers categorized into different types the millions of neurons and other cells in this brain region. They did so on the basis of morphology, or shape, of the cells, as well as their locations and connections to other cells. The researchers went even further to characterize and sort cells based on: their complex patterns of gene expression, the presence or absence of chemical (or epigenetic) marks on their DNA, the way their chromosomes are packaged into chromatin, and their electrical properties.
The new data and analyses offer compelling evidence that neural cells do indeed fall into distinct types, with a high degree of correspondence across their molecular genetic, anatomical, and physiological features. These findings support the notion that neural cells can be classified into molecularly defined types that are also highly conserved or shared across mammalian species.
So, how many cell types are there? While that’s an obvious question, it doesn’t have an easy answer. The number varies depending upon the method used for sorting them. The researchers report that they have identified about 25 classes of cells, including 16 different neuronal classes and nine non-neuronal classes, each composed of multiple subtypes of cells.
These 25 classes were determined by their genetic profiles, their locations, and other characteristics. They also showed up consistently across species and using different experimental approaches, suggesting that they have important roles in the neural circuitry and function of the motor cortex in mammals.
Still, many precise features of the cells don’t fall neatly into these categories. In fact, by focusing on gene expression within single cells of the motor cortex, the researchers identified more potentially important cell subtypes, which fall into roughly 100 different clusters, or distinct groups. As scientists continue to examine this brain region and others using the latest new methods and approaches, it’s likely that the precise number of recognized cell types will continue to grow and evolve a bit.
This resource will now serve as a springboard for future research into the structure and function of the brain, both within and across species. The datasets already have been organized and made publicly available for scientists around the world.
The atlas also now provides a foundation for more in-depth study of cell types in other parts of the mammalian brain. The BICCN is already engaged in an effort to generate a brain-wide cell atlas in the mouse, and is working to expand coverage in the atlas for other parts of the human brain.
The cell census and atlas of the primary motor cortex are important scientific advances with major implications for medicine. Strokes commonly affect this region of the brain, leading to partial or complete paralysis of the opposite side of the body.
By considering how well cell census information aligns across species, scientists also can make more informed choices about the best models to use for deepening our understanding of brain disorders. Ultimately, these efforts and others underway will help to enable precise targeting of specific cell types and to treat a wide range of brain disorders that affect thinking, memory, mood, and movement.
Reference:
[1] A multimodal cell census and atlas of the mammalian primary motor cortex. BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN). Nature. Oct 6, 2021.
Links:
NIH Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative (NIH)
BRAIN Initiative – Cell Census Network (BICCN) (NIH)
NIH Support: National Institute of Mental Health; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Wearable Scanner Tracks Brain Activity While Body Moves
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Credit: Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London.
In recent years, researchers fueled by the BRAIN Initiative and many other NIH-supported efforts have made remarkable progress in mapping the human brain in all its amazing complexity. Now, a powerful new imaging technology promises to further transform our understanding [1]. This wearable scanner, for the first time, enables researchers to track neural activity in people in real-time as they do ordinary things—be it drinking tea, typing on a keyboard, talking to a friend, or even playing paddle ball.
This new so-called magnetoencephalography (MEG) brain scanner, which looks like a futuristic cross between a helmet and a hockey mask, is equipped with specialized “quantum” sensors. When placed directly on the scalp surface, these new MEG scanners can detect weak magnetic fields generated by electrical activity in the brain. While current brain scanners weigh in at nearly 1,000 pounds and require people to come to a special facility and remain absolutely still, the new system weighs less than 2 pounds and is capable of generating 3D images even when a person is making motions.
