Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA.
Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2020 Dec;65:70-76. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2020.10.006. Epub 2020 Nov 9.
To study how the brain drives cognition and behavior we need to understand its cellular composition. Advances in single-cell transcriptomics have revolutionized our ability to characterize neuronal diversity. To arrive at meaningful descriptions of cell types, however, gene expression must be linked to structural and functional properties. Axonal projection patterns are an appropriate measure, as they are diverse, change only gradually over time, and they influence and constrain circuit function. Here, we consider how efforts to map transcriptional and morphological diversity in the mouse brain could be linked to generate a modern taxonomy of the mouse brain.
为了研究大脑如何驱动认知和行为，我们需要了解其细胞组成。单细胞转录组学的进步极大地提高了我们描述神经元多样性的能力。然而，要对细胞类型进行有意义的描述，基因表达必须与结构和功能特性相关联。轴突投射模式是一种合适的衡量标准，因为它们具有多样性，随时间的推移变化缓慢，并且它们影响和限制了电路功能。在这里，我们考虑如何将绘制小鼠大脑中转录组和形态多样性的工作联系起来，以生成小鼠大脑的现代分类法。
