The consequences of aging can vary dramatically between different brain regions and cell types. In the ventral midbrain, dopaminergic neurons develop physiological deficits with normal aging that likely convey susceptibility to neurodegeneration. While nearby GABAergic neurons are thought to be more resilient, decreased GABA signaling in other areas nonetheless correlates with age-related cognitive decline and the development of degenerative diseases. Here, we used two novel cell type-specific Translating Ribosome Affinity Purification models to elucidate the impact of healthy brain aging on the molecular profiles of dopamine and GABA neurons in the ventral midbrain. By analyzing differential gene expression from young adult (7-10 month) and old (21-24 month) mice, we detected commonalities in the aging process in both neuronal types, including increased inflammatory responses and upregulation of pro-survival pathways. Both cell types also showed downregulation of genes involved in synaptic connectivity an...

Recording the spiking activity from subcellular compartments of neurons such as axons and dendrites during mouse behavior with 2-photon calcium imaging is increasingly common yet remains challenging due to low signal-to-noise, inaccurate region-of-interest (ROI) identification, movement artifacts, and difficulty in grouping ROIs from the same neuron. To address these issues, we present a computationally efficient pre-processing pipeline for subcellular signal detection, movement artifact identification, and ROI grouping. For subcellular signal detection, we capture the frequency profile of calcium transient dynamics by applying Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) on smoothed time-series calcium traces collected from axon ROIs. We then apply band-pass filtering methods (e.g. 0.05 to 0.12 Hz) to select ROIs that contain frequencies that match the power band of transients. To remove motion artifacts from z-plane movement, we apply Principal Component Analysis on all calcium traces and use a Bottom-Up Segmentation ch...

Monica Perez started her career as a physical therapist in South America, moving to the United States to conduct research at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. The scientists and clinicians at The Miami Project take innovative approaches to understanding the intersection of science and rehabilitation in relation to spinal cord and brain injuries. Perez’s lab aims to understand physiological mechanisms that contribute to the control of movement following spinal cord injury, and to use this information to develop procedures that enhance voluntary motor output. In this Meet the Expert, Perez outlines the steps along the path that got her where she is today, including training at the University of Copenhagen and at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. She discusses her translational science experiences and how she built a research program from a basic mechanistic question to design approaches that aim to improve clinical rehabilitation. She also shares guiding questions that have helped her understand the relationship between anatomy and behavior and will help any neuroscientist make strategic decisions at the start of their career.

The FAIR principles, developed by the neuroscience community with the objective of promoting open science, are outlined by the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility as ensuring data is findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. These principles aim to enhance the ability of machines to find and use data, allowing individual researchers to cite data sets to inform more advanced studies — in short, how machines can solve the problem of having too much data to sort, in no single format. Representing tool development initiatives, publishing, and data science, speakers from academia and industry across the globe come together in this workshop to present solutions for sharing, publishing, and collaborating in neuroscience. They’ll cover the principles in detail, data standards and repositories, ethical and legal issues such as General Data Protection Regulation in the European Union, and Brain Imaging Data Structure, a way of organizing neuroimaging and behavioral data. From the publishing perspective, they’ll also propose questions to consider when publishing a paper, such as how to share your data and what information to make available.

Material below is adapted from the SfN Short Course session Genetic and Neural Circuit Approaches to Studying Sex Differences, by Jessica Tollkuhn. Short Courses are daylong scientific trainings on emerging neuroscience topics and research techniques held the day before the start of SfN’s annual meeting. Differences between the male and female brain largely arise due to the influence of sex chromosomes and gonadal hormones and can influence behaviors such as mating, aggression, and parenting. By understanding the contributions these factors make to differences in neural circuitry and corresponding behavior, researchers can begin to identify the causes for distinctions between the sexes they’ve seen in their own results. Sex chromosomes can influence brain structure and circuitry directly via genetics and indirectly by regulating the development of the gonads, or sex organs. In people, abnormalities in sex chromosome number cause some of the more common genetic disorders, resulting in symptoms that can affect behavior including motor and social skills, as well as language.

Keiji Tanaka chairs the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) Global Engagement Committee, which aims to build awareness and support for research and public education concerning the brain and the nervous system, and to enhance global cooperation through advocacy. Here he offers some of the insights he’s made into the many forms advocacy partnerships can take, starting with his own experience in Japan, and how sharing strategies and resources can benefit science globally. What does advocacy look like in Japan? Advocacy in Japan is different from advocacy in the United States, where scientists can approach lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Not many Parliament members have an interest in science, so instead most of our work is to encourage a cultural climate promoting science. The public’s interest in science is important. If they show interest, it stimulates journalists to cover science, and we are reported in newspapers and on television. Then Parliament members notice, and we do approach them occasionally.

By uniting our voices, we can help to advance neuroscience research priorities and scientific discovery. Learn how legislators make decisions that can impact your work and how you fit into (and can influence) that decision-making process. This video covers: The difference between advocacy and lobbying. • Why your voice as a constituent-scientist is particularly valuable. • How SfN and the broader scientific community typically collaborate for a larger impact. • SfN is dedicated to helping you continue to grow as an advocate whether you’re brand new or have years of experience. Learn more at sfn.org/advocacy or email advocacy@sfn.org for assistance.

Collaboration in science highlights the need for developing leadership in multidisciplinary research, bridging gaps across campuses, countries, and continents. This workshop highlights common barriers that may arise in large-scale collaborations and offers ways to shift from a traditional hierarchical model, based on power and control, to a team-centric model that promotes a culture of information-sharing and can lead to more new ideas.

Two institutional leaders will discuss their institutions’ successful strategies to diversify their faculty and create an inclusive environment where faculty can thrive and serve as role models to trainees. Cristina Alfaro, provost chair of faculty diversity and inclusion at San Diego State University, and Philip Kass, vice provost for academic affairs at the University of California, Davis, will share their insights on cultivating strong support for and commitment to diversity and inclusion at the departmental and institutional levels.

Camilla Bellone started her career working on cellular mechanisms underlying the synaptic function of defined neuronal circuits during postnatal maturation. Now an assistant professor at the University of Geneva, she runs a lab focusing on the molecular determinants and the circuits that control social behavior in physiological and pathological conditions. In this Meet the Expert, she offers a look at the roles of training abroad and openness to new collaborations in allowing her to expand her skillset as a scientist, as well as how she has balanced her evolving interests in synapses, circuits, and behaviors.