小柯机器人

英国利兹大学Netta Cohen研究组从全脑体积重建获得了多尺度的脑图谱。相关论文于2021年2月24日在线发表于国际学术期刊《自然》。

研究人员报道了秀丽隐杆线虫中神经环的完整结构-功能模型，该模型通过整合来自两只动物的体积重建物以及相应的突触和连接组（connectome）而得到。以前，神经环被认为是神经过程的一个密密麻麻的区域，但研究人员发现了内部组织，并显示了局部邻域如何在空间上限制和支持突触连接组。研究人员发现秀丽隐杆线虫的连接组并非不变的，但是在可变连接性的背景中嵌入了精确布线的核心回路，并确定了核心回路的候选参考连接组。

使用此参考，研究人员提出了秀丽隐杆线虫大脑的模块化网络体系结构，该体系结构支持感觉计算和集成、感觉运动会聚和全脑协调。这些发现揭示了大脑组织的可扩展性和稳健性，可能在整个分类门上都普遍存在。 

据悉，动物神经系统的组织对于所有身体功能至关重要，其破坏会导致严重的认知和行为障碍。这种组织依靠各种尺度的特征：从纳米级突触的定位到神经元（具有支持电路组织的复杂神经元形态），再到大脑不同区域之间的定型连接。这个器官的绝对复杂性意味着仍难以实现对所有这些尺度进行完整神经系统结构的重建和建模。

附：英文原文

Title: A multi-scale brain map derived from whole-brain volumetric reconstructions

Author: Christopher A. Brittin, Steven J. Cook, David H. Hall, Scott W. Emmons, Netta Cohen

Issue&Volume: 2021-02-24

Abstract: Animal nervous system organization is crucial for all body functions and its disruption can lead to severe cognitive and behavioural impairment1. This organization relies on features across scales—from the localization of synapses at the nanoscale, through neurons, which possess intricate neuronal morphologies that underpin circuit organization, to stereotyped connections between different regions of the brain2. The sheer complexity of this organ means that the feat of reconstructing and modelling the structure of a complete nervous system that is integrated across all of these scales has yet to be achieved. Here we present a complete structure–function model of the main neuropil in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans—the nerve ring—which we derive by integrating the volumetric reconstructions from two animals with corresponding3 synaptic and gap-junctional connectomes. Whereas previously the nerve ring was considered to be a densely packed tract of neural processes, we uncover internal organization and show how local neighbourhoods spatially constrain and support the synaptic connectome. We find that the C. elegans connectome is not invariant, but that a precisely wired core circuit is embedded in a background of variable connectivity, and identify a candidate reference connectome for the core circuit. Using this reference, we propose a modular network architecture of the C. elegans brain that supports sensory computation and integration, sensorimotor convergence and brain-wide coordination. These findings reveal scalable and robust features of brain organization that may be universal across phyla.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03284-x

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03284-x

Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504
官方网址：http://www.nature.com/
投稿链接：http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html