Please cite this article in press as: Churchland A, Lisberger S. Contributions from different model organisms to brain research: Introduction. Neuroscience (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.03.058
Neuroscience xxx (2015) xxx–xxx
EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS FROM DIFFERENT MODEL ORGANISMS TO BRAIN RESEARCH: INTRODUCTION A. CHURCHLAND a* AND S. LISBERGER b a Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, United States b
Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, United States
We dedicate this Special Issue of Neuroscience to Dr. Allison Doupe, who passed away on October 25, 2014, cutting short a brilliant career as a systems neuroscientist. Allison used songbirds to study the neural basis for the learning and production of vocal behavior. She chose the species with extraordinary attention to the relationship between her research goals and the behavioral power of the species as well as the technical approaches it enabled. She would have had great interest in the content of this Special Issue, which evaluates the strengths and challenges inherent to different ‘‘model organisms’’ used to uncover the neural mechanisms of behavior. As a field, neuroscience is in the midst of a revolution that has brought a dramatic shift in the kinds of questions that can be asked and the species used to address those questions. Thirty years ago, research on non-human primates dominated the analysis of the neural basis for sensory-guided behavior. Then, human primates began to make a major contribution with the advent of functional imaging approaches. Now, research on rodents dominates the field, a shift that occurred because of the power of molecular and genetic tools that are readily available in rodents. During the time when the choice of model organism evolved dramatically toward rodents for research on mammals, model organisms such as flies, worms, and fish have contributed steadily to progress. Our goal in the Special Issue entitled ‘‘Choice of Species for Neuroscience Research’’ was to provide a series of reviews that highlight the strengths of pursing systems neuroscience research on a variety of species. We provide reviews highlighting the virtues of research on humans (Read, 2014; Gardner, 2014), monkeys (Horwitz, 2014; Pasupathy, 2014; Joshua and Lisberger, 2014), rats (Reinagel, 2015), mice (King et al., 2015; Lee et al., 2015), songbirds (Kuebrich and Sober, 2014; Woolley and Kao, 2014), flies (Kazama, 2014), worms
(Allen et al., 2014), and fish (Feierstein et al., 2014; Joshua and Lisberger, 2014). Taken together, these reviews highlight reasons to pursue understanding the operation of the human brain through research on each of these species. As current (SGL) or former (AKC) primate neuroscientists, we believe strongly in the virtues of the non-human primate preparation, which allows exquisite quantitative control and documentation of behavior along with the ability to listen to the brain while it is working. We think that the existing non-human primate research engine is a treasure that will serve neuroscience effectively for years to come, as long as it is supported and is able to attract visionary young researchers. We also appreciate the virtues of ‘‘causal neuroscience’’ as it can be practiced now on species that allow genetic manipulation as well as behavioral control and monitoring of neural activity. Indeed, we see a future when approaches that optimize behavioral control and analysis work nicely together with approaches that optimize the power of modern molecular approaches. Recent advances in the ability to shape and measure rodent behavior speak to the tractability of this goal. In the future, tools for molecular and genetic manipulation may be available not only in rodents and invertebrates, but in primates as well. The development of the marmoset as a new model system suggests that this possibility is within reach. We hope that this Special Issue focuses readers’ attention on the issue of choice of species. We want neuroscientists to think about exactly what they are trying to accomplish, so that they can choose the most appropriate model organism to accomplish their research goals.
REFERENCES Read JCA (2014) The place of human psychophysics in modern neuroscience. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.neuroscience.2014.05.036.
*Corresponding author. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.03.058 0306-4522/Ó 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1
2
A. Churchland, S. Lisberger / Neuroscience xxx (2015) xxx–xxx
Gardner JL (2014) A case for human systems neuroscience. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.06. 052. Horwitz GD (2014) What studies of macaque monkeys have told us about human color vision. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.10.007. Pasupathy A (2014) The neural basis of image segmentation in the primate brain. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.neuroscience.2014.09.051. Joshua M, Lisberger SG (2014) A tale of two species: neural integration in zebrafish and monkeys. Neuroscience. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.04.048. Reinagel P (2015) Using rats for vision research. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.12.025. King J, Insanally M, Jin M, Martins ARO, D’amour JA, Froemke RC (2015) Rodent auditory perception: critical band limitations and plasticity. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience. 2015.03.053. Lee AM, Tai L-H, Zador A, Wilbrecht L (2015) Between the primate and ‘reptilian’ brain: rodent models demonstrate the role of
corticostriatal circuits in decision making. Neuroscience. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.12.042. Kuebrich BD, Sober SJ (2014) Variations on a theme: songbirds, variability, and sensorimotor error correction. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.09.068. Woolley SC, Kao MH (2014) Variability in action: contributions of a songbird cortical-basal ganglia circuit to vocal motor learning and control. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience. 2014.10.010. Kazama H (2014) Systems neuroscience in Drosophila: conceptual and technical advantages. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.06.035. Allen EN, Ren J, Zhang Y, Alcedo J (2014) Sensory systems: their impact on C. elegans survival. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.06.054. Feierstein CE, Portugues R, Orger MB (2014) Seeing the whole picture: a comprehensive imaging approach to functional mapping of circuits in behaving zebrafish. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.11.046.
Please cite this article in press as: Churchland A, Lisberger S. Contributions from different model organisms to brain research: Introduction. Neuroscience (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.03.058
Neuroscience xxx (2015) xxx–xxx
EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS FROM DIFFERENT MODEL ORGANISMS TO BRAIN RESEARCH: INTRODUCTION A. CHURCHLAND a* AND S. LISBERGER b a Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, United States b
Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, United States
We dedicate this Special Issue of Neuroscience to Dr. Allison Doupe, who passed away on October 25, 2014, cutting short a brilliant career as a systems neuroscientist. Allison used songbirds to study the neural basis for the learning and production of vocal behavior. She chose the species with extraordinary attention to the relationship between her research goals and the behavioral power of the species as well as the technical approaches it enabled. She would have had great interest in the content of this Special Issue, which evaluates the strengths and challenges inherent to different ‘‘model organisms’’ used to uncover the neural mechanisms of behavior. As a field, neuroscience is in the midst of a revolution that has brought a dramatic shift in the kinds of questions that can be asked and the species used to address those questions. Thirty years ago, research on non-human primates dominated the analysis of the neural basis for sensory-guided behavior. Then, human primates began to make a major contribution with the advent of functional imaging approaches. Now, research on rodents dominates the field, a shift that occurred because of the power of molecular and genetic tools that are readily available in rodents. During the time when the choice of model organism evolved dramatically toward rodents for research on mammals, model organisms such as flies, worms, and fish have contributed steadily to progress. Our goal in the Special Issue entitled ‘‘Choice of Species for Neuroscience Research’’ was to provide a series of reviews that highlight the strengths of pursing systems neuroscience research on a variety of species. We provide reviews highlighting the virtues of research on humans (Read, 2014; Gardner, 2014), monkeys (Horwitz, 2014; Pasupathy, 2014; Joshua and Lisberger, 2014), rats (Reinagel, 2015), mice (King et al., 2015; Lee et al., 2015), songbirds (Kuebrich and Sober, 2014; Woolley and Kao, 2014), flies (Kazama, 2014), worms
(Allen et al., 2014), and fish (Feierstein et al., 2014; Joshua and Lisberger, 2014). Taken together, these reviews highlight reasons to pursue understanding the operation of the human brain through research on each of these species. As current (SGL) or former (AKC) primate neuroscientists, we believe strongly in the virtues of the non-human primate preparation, which allows exquisite quantitative control and documentation of behavior along with the ability to listen to the brain while it is working. We think that the existing non-human primate research engine is a treasure that will serve neuroscience effectively for years to come, as long as it is supported and is able to attract visionary young researchers. We also appreciate the virtues of ‘‘causal neuroscience’’ as it can be practiced now on species that allow genetic manipulation as well as behavioral control and monitoring of neural activity. Indeed, we see a future when approaches that optimize behavioral control and analysis work nicely together with approaches that optimize the power of modern molecular approaches. Recent advances in the ability to shape and measure rodent behavior speak to the tractability of this goal. In the future, tools for molecular and genetic manipulation may be available not only in rodents and invertebrates, but in primates as well. The development of the marmoset as a new model system suggests that this possibility is within reach. We hope that this Special Issue focuses readers’ attention on the issue of choice of species. We want neuroscientists to think about exactly what they are trying to accomplish, so that they can choose the most appropriate model organism to accomplish their research goals.
REFERENCES Read JCA (2014) The place of human psychophysics in modern neuroscience. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.neuroscience.2014.05.036.
*Corresponding author. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.03.058 0306-4522/Ó 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1
2
A. Churchland, S. Lisberger / Neuroscience xxx (2015) xxx–xxx
Gardner JL (2014) A case for human systems neuroscience. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.06. 052. Horwitz GD (2014) What studies of macaque monkeys have told us about human color vision. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.10.007. Pasupathy A (2014) The neural basis of image segmentation in the primate brain. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.neuroscience.2014.09.051. Joshua M, Lisberger SG (2014) A tale of two species: neural integration in zebrafish and monkeys. Neuroscience. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.04.048. Reinagel P (2015) Using rats for vision research. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.12.025. King J, Insanally M, Jin M, Martins ARO, D’amour JA, Froemke RC (2015) Rodent auditory perception: critical band limitations and plasticity. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience. 2015.03.053. Lee AM, Tai L-H, Zador A, Wilbrecht L (2015) Between the primate and ‘reptilian’ brain: rodent models demonstrate the role of
corticostriatal circuits in decision making. Neuroscience. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.12.042. Kuebrich BD, Sober SJ (2014) Variations on a theme: songbirds, variability, and sensorimotor error correction. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.09.068. Woolley SC, Kao MH (2014) Variability in action: contributions of a songbird cortical-basal ganglia circuit to vocal motor learning and control. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience. 2014.10.010. Kazama H (2014) Systems neuroscience in Drosophila: conceptual and technical advantages. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.06.035. Allen EN, Ren J, Zhang Y, Alcedo J (2014) Sensory systems: their impact on C. elegans survival. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.06.054. Feierstein CE, Portugues R, Orger MB (2014) Seeing the whole picture: a comprehensive imaging approach to functional mapping of circuits in behaving zebrafish. Neuroscience. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.11.046.
Please cite this article in press as: Churchland A, Lisberger S. Contributions from different model organisms to brain research: Introduction. Neuroscience (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.03.058
