The first map of a brain region revealed the existence of a major network of the nervous system

he Mapping brain connectivity The motivation behind this is the claim that nothing is more faithfully defined Nerve cell function That's their nature Inputs and outputs. This approach to Detection of neurological function He leads large-scale efforts to generate synapses (anatomical maps of the brain's synaptic connections) in a variety of organisms.

one of Certain types are elegant, a worm 1 mm The length, which lives in temperate environments, is the most mature of these efforts and has been used To reveal sensory-motor processing mechanisms and predict neuronal function. A team of specialists from Princeton University revealed this in a research published in the journal nature Which they discovered A type of wireless communication Which goes beyond the previous understanding of Chemical bonds in the nervous system.

Andrew Leaver's team at Princeton University studied the flight signaling of C. elegans using… Optogenetics and measurements of neural activity, Detect wireless network contributions. In their study, they combined wired synaptic connections and wireless signaling into a model that better predicts signaling in C. elegans, suggesting direct activation of neurons through wireless communication.

Researchers He built a comprehensive map of neuropeptide connections in C. elegans, Integrating biochemical, anatomical and genetic expression data. Mathematical models have been used to analyze signals, characterize relationships, and identify key network features and important neurons.

The findings reveal a complex but well-organized network in the animal nervous system, representing a critical advance in understanding the functioning of the brain and nervous system with potential implications for targeted therapies.

Meanwhile, in another study it was published In the journal Neuron, neuroscientist William Schaefer and colleagues at the university's Molecular Biology Laboratory explore the role of neuropeptides in C. elegans, challenging the idea that they play only a supportive role in nervous system messages.

By analyzing gene expression of neuropeptides and their receptors, the team predicted possible wireless connections between neurons, creating a map that reveals dense connectivity that differs from an anatomical wiring diagram.

The work was led by William Schiffer with Lydia Ripoll-Sanchez, from the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge (UK), and co-authored by Petra Virts, from the University of Cambridge, and Isabel Betts, from The Catholic University. University of Louvain (Belgium). These experts have made significant progress in understanding the neural communication facilitated by neuropeptides, producing a detailed map revealing 31,479 interactions between 302 neurons in the worm's nervous system. This map helps uncover the origins of common neuropsychiatric conditions such as eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Neuropeptides act as signaling molecules, allowing wireless communication between neurons. The C. Elegant network displays a different structure compared to wired connections, offering denser, more decentralized links and different names. A wireless network connects parts of the nervous system that are isolated from wired connections.

A neural network is a neural map that shows the complex circuits of an organism's brain. C. elegans, traditionally considered “wired” due to the physical connections of synapses, was mapped in 2019.

Recent advances in mapping the neural connections of simple organisms, such as fruit flies, have accelerated. In particular, researchers in the Molecular Biology Laboratory have mapped every neuron and its wiring in the fruit fly larvae. However, until this breakthrough, no one had succeeded in mapping the wireless peptidergic neural network in any animal.