Molecular tools for imaging and recording neuronal activity

Wenjing Wang; Christina K Kim; Alice Y Ting

doi:10.1038/s41589-018-0207-0

Molecular tools for imaging and recording neuronal activity

Nat Chem Biol. 2019 Feb;15(2):101-110. doi: 10.1038/s41589-018-0207-0. Epub 2019 Jan 18.

Authors

Wenjing Wang^{1

2

3}, Christina K Kim¹, Alice Y Ting^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Departments of Genetics, Biology, and Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
² Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
³ Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
⁴ Departments of Genetics, Biology, and Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. ayting@stanford.edu.
⁵ Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, USA. ayting@stanford.edu.

PMID: 30659298
DOI: 10.1038/s41589-018-0207-0

Abstract

To understand how the brain relates to behavior, it is essential to record neural activity in awake, behaving animals. To achieve this goal, a large variety of genetically encoded sensors have been developed to monitor and record the series of events following neuronal firing, including action potentials, intracellular calcium rise, neurotransmitter release and immediate early gene expression. In this Review, we discuss the existing genetically encoded tools for detecting and integrating neuronal activity in animals and highlight the remaining challenges and future opportunities for molecular biologists.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Brain / diagnostic imaging
Brain Mapping / methods*
Humans
Molecular Imaging / methods*
Neurons / metabolism
Neurons / physiology*