Rat Brain-Connectome

 ChemNetDB is an open access constantly evolving neurochemical connectivity database obtained from the rat brain. By utilizing advanced neuroinformatics methods, we have integrated over 50 years of neuroanatomical and neurochemical research on rat brain into a consistent, brain-wide, multi-scale neurochemical cerebral connectome. This connectome differs from the previously suggested neuronal networks of rat brain in two major aspects:

it integrates information on transmitter systems and receptors on the network topology;
it is unbiased and hypothesis-free as the connectome was obtained by consistent and systematic procedures without a priori assumptions."

Brain Mosaic | The Scientist: Retrotransposons contribute to genetic variability in human brain cells.

Mobile genetic elements may be a source of DNA sequence variation in normal human brain tissue. Geoff Faulkner, now at the University of Queensland, and colleagues showed that retrotransposons, which can copy themselves and integrate into new sites in a cell’s genome, move much more frequently in brain cells compared to germline cells.