What’s all the Fos about? (staining protocol)

Many studies on memory and learning utilize the immediate early gene c-Fos as an indicator of recent synaptic activity. By quantifying c-Fos positive neurons, we can compare activity across different populations in the brain, and analyze co-labelled neurons with other useful cell markers such as BrdU and Doublecortin. Our lab…

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Tracing Neurons using FIJI (ImageJ)

CONFOCAL IMAGING The image files used in this tutorial were taken using a Leica confocal microscope (model SP8). Using fluorescent imaging technique (*) and an extra spatial filter, this confocal can selectively collect light at a specific z-plane, filtering out any out-of-focus illumination. A series of clear 2D images can…

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Dorsoventral vs. Septotemporal hippocampus

Everybody knows what the hippocampus is for: memory. And…maybe something about anxiety or depression? Yes – over the last 10 years or so many studies have been published showing that the hippocampus has these two roles and that the mnemonic and emotional functions of the hippocampus are associated with its…

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SFN2010 Neuroblogging List

So today the list of “official” SFN neurobloggers was released at the SFN website. And it immediately created a bit of an uproar. My initial beef was that I couldn’t ever seem to find the SFN blogging info without using Google. And also, I would like to know which other…

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