thalamus
Groundbreaking Study Maps Key Brain Circuit
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Biologists have long wondered how neurons from different regions of the brain actually interconnect into integrated neural networks, or circuits. A classic example is a complex master circuit projecting across several regions of the vertebrate brain called the basal ganglia. It’s involved in many fundamental brain processes, such as controlling movement, thought, and emotion.
In a paper published recently in the journal Nature, an NIH-supported team working in mice has created a wiring diagram, or connectivity map, of a key component of this master circuit that controls voluntary movement. This groundbreaking map will guide the way for future studies of the basal ganglia’s direct connections with the thalamus, which is a hub for information going to and from the spinal cord, as well as its links to the motor cortex in the front of the brain, which controls voluntary movements.
This 3D animation drawn from the paper’s findings captures the biological beauty of these intricate connections. It starts out zooming around four of the six horizontal layers of the motor cortex. At about 6 seconds in, the video focuses on nerve cell projections from the thalamus (blue) connecting to cortex nerve cells that provide input to the basal ganglia (green). It also shows connections to the cortex nerve cells that input to the thalamus (red).
At about 25 seconds, the video scans back to provide a quick close-up of the cell bodies (green and red bulges). It then zooms out to show the broader distribution of nerve cells within the cortex layers and the branched fringes of corticothalamic nerve cells (red) at the top edge of the cortex.
The video comes from scientific animator Jim Stanis, University of Southern California Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Los Angeles. He collaborated with Nick Foster, lead author on the Nature paper and a research scientist in the NIH-supported lab of Hong-Wei Dong at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The two worked together to bring to life hundreds of microscopic images of this circuit, known by the unusually long, hyphenated name: the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic loop. It consists of a series of subcircuits that feed into a larger signaling loop.
The subcircuits in the loop make it possible to connect thinking with movement, helping the brain learn useful sequences of motor activity. The looped subcircuits also allow the brain to perform very complex tasks such as achieving goals (completing a marathon) and adapting to changing circumstances (running uphill or downhill).
Although scientists had long assumed the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic loop existed and formed a tight, closed loop, they had no real proof. This new research, funded through NIH’s Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative, provides that proof showing anatomically that the nerve cells physically connect, as highlighted in this video. The research also provides electrical proof through tests that show stimulating individual segments activate the others.
Detailed maps of neural circuits are in high demand. That’s what makes results like these so exciting to see. Researchers can now better navigate this key circuit not only in mice but other vertebrates, including humans. Indeed, the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic loop may be involved in a number of neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions, including Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and addiction. In the meantime, Stanis, Foster, and colleagues have left us with a very cool video to watch.
Reference:
[1] The mouse cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic network. Foster NN, Barry J, Korobkova L, Garcia L, Gao L, Becerra M, Sherafat Y, Peng B, Li X, Choi JH, Gou L, Zingg B, Azam S, Lo D, Khanjani N, Zhang B, Stanis J, Bowman I, Cotter K, Cao C, Yamashita S, Tugangui A, Li A, Jiang T, Jia X, Feng Z, Aquino S, Mun HS, Zhu M, Santarelli A, Benavidez NL, Song M, Dan G, Fayzullina M, Ustrell S, Boesen T, Johnson DL, Xu H, Bienkowski MS, Yang XW, Gong H, Levine MS, Wickersham I, Luo Q, Hahn JD, Lim BK, Zhang LI, Cepeda C, Hintiryan H, Dong HW. Nature. 2021;598(7879):188-194.
Links:
Brain Basics: Know Your Brain (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke/NIH)
Dong Lab (University of California, Los Angeles)
Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (University of Southern California, Los Angeles)
The Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative (NIH)
NIH Support: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders; National Institute of Mental Health
The Amazing Brain: Deep Brain Stimulation
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
August is here, and many folks have plans to enjoy a well-deserved vacation this month. I thought you might enjoy taking a closer look during August at the wonder and beauty of the brain here on my blog, even while giving your own brains a rest from some of the usual work and deadlines.
Some of the best imagery—and best science—comes from the NIH-led Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative, a pioneering project aimed at revolutionizing our understanding of the human brain. Recently, the BRAIN Initiative held a “Show Us Your Brain Contest!”, which invited researchers involved in the effort to submit their coolest images. So, throughout this month, I’ve decided to showcase a few of these award-winning visuals.
Let’s start with the first-place winner in the still-image category. What you see above is an artistic rendering of deep brain stimulation (DBS), an approach now under clinical investigation to treat cognitive impairment that can arise after a traumatic brain injury and other conditions.
The vertical lines represent wire leads with a single electrode that has been inserted deep within the brain to reach a region involved in cognition, the central thalamus. The leads are connected to a pacemaker-like device that has been implanted in a patient’s chest (not shown). When prompted by the pacemaker, the leads’ electrode emits electrical impulses that stimulate a network of neuronal fibers (blue-white streaks) involved in arousal, which is an essential component of human consciousness. The hope is that DBS will improve attention and reduce fatigue in people with serious brain injuries that are not treatable by other means.
Andrew Janson, who is a graduate student in Christopher Butson’s NIH-supported lab at the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, composed this image using a software program called Blender. It’s an open-source, 3D computer graphics program often used to create animated films or video games, but not typically used in biomedical research. That didn’t stop Janson.
With the consent of a woman preparing to undergo experimental DBS treatment for a serious brain injury suffered years before in a car accident, Janson used Blender to transform her clinical brain scans into a 3D representation of her brain and the neurostimulation process. Then, he used a virtual “camera” within Blender to capture the 2D rendering you see here. Janson plans to use such imagery, along with other patient-specific modeling and bioelectric fields simulations, to develop a virtual brain stimulation surgery to predict the activation of specific fiber pathways, depending upon lead location and stimulation settings.
DBS has been used for many years to relieve motor symptoms of certain movement disorders, including Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. More recent experimental applications include this one for traumatic brain injury, and others for depression, addiction, Alzheimer’s disease, and chronic pain. As the BRAIN Initiative continues to map out the brain’s complex workings in unprecedented detail, it will be exciting to see how such information can lead to even more effective applications of to DBS to help people living with a wide range of neurological conditions.
Links:
Deep Brain Stimulation for Movement Disorders (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke/NIH)
Video: Deep Brain Stimulation (University of Utah, Salt Lake City)
Deep Brain Stimulation for the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease and Other Movement Disorders (NINDS/NIH)
Butson Lab (University of Utah)
Show Us Your Brain! (BRAIN Initiative/NIH)
Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative (NIH)
NIH Support: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Vision Loss Boosts Auditory Perception
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Credit: Emily Petrus, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
Many people with vision loss—including such gifted musicians as the late Doc Watson (my favorite guitar picker), Stevie Wonder, Andrea Bocelli, and the Blind Boys of Alabama—are thought to have supersensitive hearing. They are often much better at discriminating pitch, locating the origin of sounds, and hearing softer tones than people who can see. Now, a new animal study suggests that even a relatively brief period of simulated blindness may have the power to enhance hearing among those with normal vision.
In the study, NIH-funded researchers at the University of Maryland in College Park, and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, found that when they kept adult mice in complete darkness for one week, the animals’ ability to hear significantly improved [1]. What’s more, when they examined the animals’ brains, the researchers detected changes in the connections among neurons in the part of the brain where sound is processed, the auditory cortex.
