To make this discovery the researchers created a rat sized car that allows for monitoring neural activity while the rat uses its feet and legs to move about. The team describes it as similar to Fred Flintstone's car, of comic fame.
Twenty six rats had probes placed into their brains before being put in the ratmobile. The probes (which were so sensitive they could capture single nerve activity) were inserted in a part of the brain known as the entorhinal cortex—the same general area where grid cells had been identified previously. The rats were then incited to move at different rates of speed as the team members watched. They found that a group of neurons fired in step with the speed at which the rat was moving.
The team conducted over 2,000 rat-moving sessions while studying a group of 2,497 cells, 15 percent of which turned out to be those they were looking for—the ones that would fire in ways that mimicked the speed at which the rats traveled. So clear was the response, the team reports, that they were able to accurately predict how fast a rat was moving by watching how fast its neurons were firing.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature14622.html
Edited
Latest News
Circadian rhythms can influ…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
With hybrid brains, these m…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Blocking activation of NF-κ…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Vitamin D regulates microbi…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Role of alternative splicin…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Other Top Stories
Both nature and nurture contribute to signatures of socioeconomic s…
Read more
Improved cognition and mood by inducing neurogenesis via optogeneti…
Read more
STING mediates neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation in Parkinson…
Read more
CRISPR-based strategy to edit multiple genes
Read more
New proteins in DNA repair!
Read more
Protocols
A programmable targeted pro…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
MemPrep, a new technology f…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
A tangible method to assess…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
Stem cell-derived vessels-o…
By newseditor
Posted 06 Apr
Single-cell biclustering fo…
By newseditor
Posted 01 Apr
Publications
Single dose creatine improv…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Autonomous circadian rhythm…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Functional sensory circuits…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Positive selection CRISPR s…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Focal clusters of peri-syna…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar