Making a map of the brain—First-of-its-kind cellular atlas identifies neuron types, location and even function

For decades, scientists have viewed the brain as a veritable black box—and now Catherine Dulac and Xiaowei Zhuang are poised to open it. Dulac, the Higgins Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Lee and Ezpeleta Professor of Arts and Sciences, and Zhuang, the David B. Arnold, Jr. Professor of Science, are the senior authors of a new study that has created a first-of-its-kind cellular atlas of an important region in the brains of mice.
Using a cutting-edge imaging technology, Dulac, Zhuang and colleagues examined more than 1 million cells in a 2-millimeter by 2-millimeter by 0.6-millimeter block of the brain, and not only identified more than 70 different types of neurons, but also pinpointed where the cells were located and their various functions. The study is described in a November 1 paper in Science.