Interactive data exploration websites for large-scale electrophysiology.

Methodological advances in neuroscience have enabled the collection of massive datasets which demand innovative approaches for scientific communication. Existing platforms for data storage lack intuitive tools for data exploration, limiting our ability to interact effectively with these brain-wide datasets. We introduce two public websites: (Data and Atlas) developed for the International Brain Laboratory which provide access to millions of behavioral trials and hundreds of thousands of individual neurons.

Partitioning variability in animal behavioral videos using semi-supervised variational autoencoders.

Recent neuroscience studies demonstrate that a deeper understanding of brain function requires a deeper understanding of behavior. Detailed behavioral measurements are now often collected using video cameras, resulting in an increased need for computer vision algorithms that extract useful information from video data. Here we introduce a new video analysis tool that combines the output of supervised pose estimation algorithms (e.

Standardized and reproducible measurement of decision-making in mice.

Progress in science requires standardized assays whose results can be readily shared, compared, and reproduced across laboratories. Reproducibility, however, has been a concern in neuroscience, particularly for measurements of mouse behavior. Here, we show that a standardized task to probe decision-making in mice produces reproducible results across multiple laboratories.

Autism-Associated Shank3 Is Essential for Homeostatic Compensation in Rodent V1.

Mutations in Shank3 are strongly associated with autism spectrum disorders and neural circuit changes in several brain areas, but the cellular mechanisms that underlie these defects are not understood. Homeostatic forms of plasticity allow central circuits to maintain stable function during experience-dependent development, leading us to ask whether loss of Shank3 might impair homeostatic plasticity and circuit-level compensation to perturbations. We found that Shank3 loss in vitro abolished synaptic scaling and intrinsic homeostatic plasticity, deficits that could be rescued by treatment with lithium.

Sensory experience inversely regulates feedforward and feedback excitation-inhibition ratio in rodent visual cortex.

Brief (2-3d) monocular deprivation (MD) during the critical period induces a profound loss of responsiveness within binocular (V1b) and monocular (V1m) regions of rodent primary visual cortex. This has largely been ascribed to long-term depression (LTD) at thalamocortical synapses, while a contribution from intracortical inhibition has been controversial. Here we used optogenetics to isolate and measure feedforward thalamocortical and feedback intracortical excitation-inhibition (E-I) ratios following brief MD.

A modular phase transfer and ligand exchange protocol for quantum dots.

In this paper, we describe a quantum dot (qdot) phase transfer protocol using ligand exchange and the amino acid histidine. The phase transfer from nonpolar solvents to aqueous buffers is homogeneous, and no appreciable precipitation occurs. The molecule histidine was chosen in order to first displace the organic encapsulation and second to provide a weakly chemisorbing intermediate at the qdot ionic interface.