小柯机器人

加拿大多伦多大学Mei Zhen等研究人员合作揭示发育过程中的大脑成熟原则。这一研究成果于2021年8月4日在线发表在国际学术期刊《自然》上。

研究人员使用连续切片的电子显微镜来重建了8个同源线虫个体的产后阶段全脑，从而调查其是如何随着年龄的增长而变化的。大脑的整体几何形状从出生到成年都被保留下来，但在这个一致的支架上出现了化学突触连接的实质性变化。比较个体之间的连接组，可以发现连接组的实质性差异，这使得每个大脑都有一定的独特性。比较不同成熟期的连接组可以发现不同神经元之间一致的布线变化。

这些变化改变了现有连接的强度并创造了新的连接。网络中的集体变化改变了信息处理。在发育过程中，中央决策回路得以保持，而感觉和运动通路则大幅重塑。随着年龄的增长，大脑逐渐变得更加前馈和明显的模块化。因此，发育期的连接组学揭示了大脑成熟的原则。

据介绍，动物的神经系统随着其身体从出生到成年的成长和行为的成熟而变化。整个连接组回路重塑的形式和程度是未知的。

附：英文原文

Title: Connectomes across development reveal principles of brain maturation

Author: Witvliet, Daniel, Mulcahy, Ben, Mitchell, James K., Meirovitch, Yaron, Berger, Daniel R., Wu, Yuelong, Liu, Yufang, Koh, Wan Xian, Parvathala, Rajeev, Holmyard, Douglas, Schalek, Richard L., Shavit, Nir, Chisholm, Andrew D., Lichtman, Jeff W., Samuel, Aravinthan D. T., Zhen, Mei

Issue&Volume: 2021-08-04

Abstract: An animal’s nervous system changes as its body grows from birth to adulthood and its behaviours mature1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. The form and extent of circuit remodelling across the connectome is unknown3,9,10,11,12,13,14,15. Here we used serial-section electron microscopy to reconstruct the full brain of eight isogenic Caenorhabditis elegans individuals across postnatal stages to investigate how it changes with age. The overall geometry of the brain is preserved from birth to adulthood, but substantial changes in chemical synaptic connectivity emerge on this consistent scaffold. Comparing connectomes between individuals reveals substantial differences in connectivity that make each brain partly unique. Comparing connectomes across maturation reveals consistent wiring changes between different neurons. These changes alter the strength of existing connections and create new connections. Collective changes in the network alter information processing. During development, the central decision-making circuitry is maintained, whereas sensory and motor pathways substantially remodel. With age, the brain becomes progressively more feedforward and discernibly modular. Thus developmental connectomics reveals principles that underlie brain maturation.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03778-8

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03778-8

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