Neurotechnology Center, Department of Biological Sciences and Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Neurotechnology Center, Department of Biological Sciences and Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Curr Biol. 2017 Apr 24;27(8):1085-1097. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.02.049. Epub 2017 Mar 30.
To understand the emergent properties of neural circuits, it would be ideal to record the activity of every neuron in a behaving animal and decode how it relates to behavior. We have achieved this with the cnidarian Hydra vulgaris, using calcium imaging of genetically engineered animals to measure the activity of essentially all of its neurons. Although the nervous system of Hydra is traditionally described as a simple nerve net, we surprisingly find instead a series of functional networks that are anatomically non-overlapping and are associated with specific behaviors. Three major functional networks extend through the entire animal and are activated selectively during longitudinal contractions, elongations in response to light, and radial contractions, whereas an additional network is located near the hypostome and is active during nodding. These results demonstrate the functional sophistication of apparently simple nerve nets, and the potential of Hydra and other basal metazoans as a model system for neural circuit studies.
为了理解神经回路的涌现特性，如果能记录行为动物中每个神经元的活动，并解码其与行为的关系，那将是理想的。我们已经通过腔肠动物海葵 Hydra vulgaris 实现了这一目标，使用遗传工程动物的钙成像来测量其几乎所有神经元的活动。尽管海葵的神经系统传统上被描述为简单的神经网，但我们出人意料地发现了一系列功能网络，这些网络在解剖上是不重叠的，与特定的行为相关。三个主要的功能网络贯穿整个动物，并在纵向收缩、对光的伸长和径向收缩期间选择性地被激活，而另外一个网络位于咽下部附近，并在点头时活跃。这些结果表明，看似简单的神经网具有复杂的功能，并且海葵和其他基础后生动物作为神经回路研究的模型系统具有潜力。
