Eric R. Kandel

3D neuronal mitochondrial morphology in axons, dendrites, and somata of the aging mouse hippocampus

Cell Reports · 2021 · 138 citations

The brain's ability to process complex information relies on the constant supply of energy through aerobic respiration by mitochondria. Neurons contain three anatomically distinct compartments-the soma, dendrites, and projecting axons-which have different energetic and biochemical requirements, as well as different mitochondrial morphologies in cultured systems. In this study, we apply quantitative three-dimensional electron microscopy to map mitochondrial network morphology and complexity in th…

A direct lateral entorhinal cortex to hippocampal CA2 circuit conveys social information required for social memory

Neuron · 2022-02-17 · 120 citations

The hippocampus is essential for different forms of declarative memory, including social memory, the ability to recognize and remember a conspecific. Although recent studies identify the importance of the dorsal CA2 region of the hippocampus in social memory storage, little is known about its sources of social information. Because CA2, like other hippocampal regions, receives its major source of spatial and non-spatial information from the medial and lateral subdivisions of entorhinal cortex (ME…

Enkephalin release from VIP interneurons in the hippocampal CA2/3a region mediates heterosynaptic plasticity and social memory

Molecular Psychiatry · 2021-05-14 · 49 citations

A fast, aqueous, reversible three-day tissue clearing method for adult and embryonic mouse brain and whole body

Cell Reports Methods · 2021-10-12 · 33 citations

Optical clearing methods serve as powerful tools to study intact organs and neuronal circuits. We developed an aqueous clearing protocol, Fast 3D Clear, that relies on tetrahydrofuran for tissue delipidation and iohexol for clearing, such that tissues can be imaged under immersion oil in light-sheet imaging systems. Fast 3D Clear requires 3 days to achieve high transparency of adult and embryonic mouse tissues while maintaining their anatomical integrity and preserving a vast array of transgenic…

The evolution of synaptic and cognitive capacity: Insights from the nervous system transcriptome of<i>Aplysia</i>

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2022-07-08 · 21 citations

The gastropod mollusk Aplysia is an important model for cellular and molecular neurobiological studies, particularly for investigations of molecular mechanisms of learning and memory. We developed an optimized assembly pipeline to generate an improved Aplysia nervous system transcriptome. This improved transcriptome enabled us to explore the evolution of cognitive capacity at the molecular level. Were there evolutionary expansions of neuronal genes between this relatively simple gastropod Aplysi…