CNC-UC researchers take part in innovative study to better understand brain mapping

Portuguese researchers Marcos Gomes and João Peça, from the Centre for Neuroscience and Cell Biology of the University of Coimbra (CNC-UC), participated in a pioneering international study, published today in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, that deepens our knowledge of the thalamus - an important region of the brain.

The study, led by researchers from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), focused on the "thalamic reticular nucleus", a region thought to be involved in cognition, sensory processing, attention and sleep regulation. Alterations in this nucleus "have been linked to neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia, autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, despite its importance, little is known about the properties of this region and the characteristics of the neurons that it comprises," explain the two researchers and co-authors of the study published in Nature.

The work has produced, for the first time, an atlas of the thalamic reticular nucleus, where it has the electrophysiological and gene expression properties of thousands of individual cells, allowing the researchers to identify "a population gradient and two types of previously unknown neurons". These "new neurons" were named Spp1+ and Ecel1+ and were shown to have a fundamental but distinct role in sleep regulation", emphasise Marcos Gomes and João Peça.

The contribution of the CNC-UC team allowed the identification of the three-dimensional organisation of the "new" Spp1+ and Ecel1+ neurons, which led to a more detailed understanding of this nucleus.

"The results of this research represent another important step in the mapping of the mammalian brain, contributing to a better understanding of the thalamic architecture," affirms João Peça, also of the Faculty of Life Sciences of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra.

"Among other aspects, our study has shown an organisation in layers in the populations of this nucleus, identifying the electrophysiological and functional properties of each neuronal group", adds Marcos Gomes, a student in the Experimental Biology and Biomedicine PhD programme.

The approaches developed in this work have allowed the "functional characterisation of the circuits, providing crucial clues for understanding not only sleep disorders, but also several neurodevelopmental disorders. This is because, with the knowledge of the unique properties of the neurons that make up this brain region, it opens doors in the design of strategies and therapies to restore normal function in disease processes," conclude the two researchers.

^{Translation by Diana Taborda}