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Volume 563 Issue 7729, 1 November 2018

Action potential

Two papers in this week’s issue examine the remarkable diversity found among neurons in the brain. Bosiljka Tasic and her colleagues used deep, single-cell RNA-sequencing on 23,822 cells from across the visual and motor cortices in mice to reveal 133 cell types based on gene-expression profiles. They found that nearly all types of inhibitory neurons were shared across the two regions, whereas most types of excitatory neurons were area-specific. In related work, Karel Svoboda, Michael Economo and their colleagues demonstrate that several of these cell types, those corresponding to pyramidal tract neurons (pictured) — a particular subpopulation of excitatory neurons — differ in other ways beyond gene expression. They showed that different pyramidal tract cell types each connect to a unique set of brain regions and communicate specific signals involved in the preparation and initiation of motion, respectively. Together, these studies demonstrate the power of such data sets to reveal the intricate details of neuronal function. show less

Cover image: Michael Economo/Jayaram Chandrashekar

Letter | 17 October 2018                                                                    

Biodiversity increases and decreases ecosystem stability

Species richness was found to increase temporal stability but decrease resistance to warming in an experiment involving 690 micro-ecosystems consisting of 1 to 6 species of bacterivorous ciliates that were sampled over 40 days.

• Frank Pennekamp
• , Mikael Pontarp
• , Andrea Tabi
• , Florian Altermatt
• , Roman Alther
• , Yves Choffat
• , Emanuel A. Fronhofer
• , Pravin Ganesanandamoorthy
• , Aurélie Garnier
• , Jason I. Griffiths
• , Suzanne Greene
• , Katherine Horgan
• , Thomas M. Massie
• , Elvira Mächler
• , Gian Marco Palamara
• , Mathew Seymour
• […]
•  & Owen L. Petchey


Article

| 31 October 2018                                                                    

Shared and distinct transcriptomic cell types across neocortical areas

Single-cell transcriptomics of more than 20,000 cells from two functionally distinct areas of the mouse neocortex identifies 133 transcriptomic types, and provides a foundation for understanding the diversity of cortical cell types.

• Bosiljka Tasic
• , Zizhen Yao
• , Lucas T. Graybuck
• , Kimberly A. Smith
• , Thuc Nghi Nguyen
• , Darren Bertagnolli
• , Jeff Goldy
• , Emma Garren
• , Michael N. Economo
• , Sarada Viswanathan
• , Osnat Penn
• , Trygve Bakken
• , Vilas Menon
• , Jeremy Miller
• , Olivia Fong
• , Karla E. Hirokawa
• , Kanan Lathia
• , Christine Rimorin
• , Michael Tieu
• , Rachael Larsen
• , Tamara Casper
• , Eliza Barkan
• , Matthew Kroll
• , Sheana Parry
• , Nadiya V. Shapovalova
• , Daniel Hirschstein
• , Julie Pendergraft
• , Heather A. Sullivan
• , Tae Kyung Kim
• , Aaron Szafer
• , Nick Dee
• , Peter Groblewski
• , Ian Wickersham
• , Ali Cetin
• , Julie A. Harris
• , Boaz P. Levi
• , Susan M. Sunkin
• , Linda Madisen
• , Tanya L. Daigle
• , Loren Looger
• , Amy Bernard
• , John Phillips
• , Ed Lein
• , Michael Hawrylycz
• , Karel Svoboda
• , Allan R. Jones
• , Christof Koch
• […]
•  & Hongkui Zeng
• - Show fewer authors

• Article | 31 October 2018

  Distinct descending motor cortex pathways and their roles in movement

  Transcriptional profiling and axonal reconstructions identify two types of pyramidal tract neuron in the motor cortex: one type projects to thalamic regions and produces early and persistent preparatory activity, and the other type projects to motor centres in the medulla and produces motor commands.

  • Michael N. Economo
  • , Sarada Viswanathan
  • , Bosiljka Tasic
  • , Erhan Bas
  • , Johan Winnubst
  • , Vilas Menon
  • , Lucas T. Graybuck
  • , Thuc Nghi Nguyen
  • , Kimberly A. Smith
  • , Zizhen Yao
  • , Lihua Wang
  • , Charles R. Gerfen
  • , Jayaram Chandrashekar
  • , Hongkui Zeng
  • , Loren L. Looger
  • […]
  •  & Karel Svoboda