Biology subjects

englund, m.

Publications and source records attributed to englund, m..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2021

Comparing cortex-wide gene expression patterns between species in a common reference frame

Advances in sequencing techniques have made comparative studies of gene expression a current focus for understanding evolutionary and developmental processes. However, insights into the spatial expression of genes have been limited by a lack of robust methodology. We therefore developed a set of algorithms for quantifying and comparing tissue-wide spatial patterns of gene expression within and across species. Here we apply these algorithms to compare cortex-wide expression of Id2 and RZR{beta} mRNA in early postnatal mice and voles. We show that neocortical patterns of Id2 expression are moderately conserved between species, but that the degree of conservation varies by cortical layer and area. By comparison, patterns of RZR{beta} expression are highly conserved in somatosensory areas, and more variable between species in visual and auditory areas. We consider if these differences reflect independent evolution in the 35 million years since the last common ancestor.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2020

Performance and behavioral flexibility on a complex motor task depend on available sensory inputs in early blind and sighted short-tailed opossums.

The early loss of vision results in a reorganized visual cortex that processes tactile and auditory inputs. Recent studies in the short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) found that the connections and response properties of neurons in somatosensory cortex of early blind animals are also altered. While research in humans and other mammals shows that early vision loss leads to heightened abilities on discrimination tasks involving the spared senses, if and how this superior discrimination leads to adaptive sensorimotor behavior has yet to be determined. Moreover, little is known about the extent to which blind animals rely on the spared senses. Here, we tested early blind opossums on a sensorimotor task involving somatosensation and found that they had increased limb placement accuracy. However, increased reliance on tactile inputs in early blind animals resulted in greater deficits in limb placement and behavioral flexibility when the whiskers were trimmed.

neuroscience↗