Form meets function in the brain: observing the activity and structure of specific neural connections

Abstract

Recent advances in neuroscience have enabled increasingly detailed insight into the activity and structure of brain circuitry. In previous work, we have developed and applied methods for precisely controlling the activity of specific cells and projections within neural systems during behavior (optogenetics). Here I review distinct complementary technological approaches for observing natural activity patterns in these cells and projections during behavior (fiber photometry) and for obtaining anatomical insights into the wiring and molecular phenotype of these circuit elements within the intact mammalian brain (CLARITY-optimized lightsheet microscopy). Together these approaches may help further advance understanding of the circuit dynamics and wiring patterns that underlie adaptive and maladaptive behavior.