Original Research Article in eLife: 
Quantitative and functional interrogation of parent-of-origin allelic expression biases in the brain. 
By Perez, Rubinstein et al. July 3, 2015.

Harvard Gazette: Expanding the Brain. By Peter Reuell, July 29, 2015.

A new review explains how different methods of tissue clearing work

Imaging biological tissues is always a challenge because they are three dimensional, and issues of light scatter make it hard to clearly view deeper structures without cutting sections. Neuroscientists have long been interested in methods for “clearing” - or making more transparent -brain tissue so it is easier to image intact.

“I think as a neuroscientist there’s no part of the body where clearing is potentially more influential in moving forward,” says Jeff Lichtman, a professor of molecular and cellular biology and Conte lab head who teaches microscopy at Harvard and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. 

The Biology Of Parenting >>

Aired May 25th 2015. Features Catherine Dulac of our center in addition to Eric Kandel, Susanne Shultz, Charles Nelson, Margaret Spinelli and David Levine.

Gender Identity >>

Aired June 16th 2015. Features Catherine Dulac of our center in addition to Eric Kandel, Ben Barres, Norman Spack, Melissa Hines and Janet Hyde.

Harvard Medical School News: FISHing For Insight >>

Story by Stephanie Dutchen, May 21st. New method for visualizing chromosomes in astonishing detail, developed by Ting Wu's lab in collaboration with Xiawei Zhuang and Peng Yin's groups, published May 12 in Nature Communications.

BBC World Service:The Forum – Plasticity >>

Aired May 19th. Features Takao Hensch of our center talking about brain plasticity alongside an artist who works with plastics from garbage and a nanochemist who considers plasticity at the level of atoms and electrons. Host Bridget Kendall.

SFARI Autism News: Rainbow Of Dyes Maps Neurons’ Tangled Paths In Brain >>

Story by Kate Yandell, May 13th. Discusses neuronal positioning system (NPS) recently developed by Jeff Lichtman's lab, published April 21 in Nature Methods.

Circadian rhythms outside the brain’s central pacemaker may control the trajectory of brain plasticity

Scientists have long known that humans and other animals have a master biological clock situated in a deep brain region called the hypothalamus. In this master clock, cells manufacture timekeeper molecules whose levels oscillate to maintain the 24 hour cycles that define our lives. Yet these same timekeeper molecules are made throughout the brain and body, suggesting undiscovered functions for circadian genes outside the hypothalamus.

Sex-based differences in sensory processing identified at cellular level for first time

Take a moment to picture the reaction of a man in a bar to a beautiful woman walking in the door. Then picture the reaction of a woman sitting in the same spot in the same bar, looking at the same thing. Chances are you imagined different behaviors.

“The most extreme behavioral differences within a species are found in the way male vs. female animals respond to the same sensory stimuli,” write the authors of a recent study on sensory processing in the mouse brain, led by Catherine Dulac, Higgins Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.

Neuroscientist Jeff Lichtman on Being Humbled by Nature

From drops of pond water to slivers of brain tissue, Jeff Lichtman has always enjoyed looking inside things. His interest in the microscopic realm began back when he was a young boy growing up in Westchester, New York. The son of a hematologist, he had a small research grade microscope in his bedroom from second grade on, complete with its own oil immersion lens.

“I kind of took it for granted. It didn’t even occur to me that this was bizarre,” he says.

Many people with autism display atypical sensory processing, and in independent studies, abnormalities in a deep brain structure known as the insula. A new study from researchers at Harvard reveals that across four different mouse models of autism, the development of sound-touch integration—important for social play in rodents—is impaired. This impairment reflects deficits in inhibitory circuit maturation in the insula and can be rescued by boosting inhibitory neurotransmission early in brain development.

DULAC TEAM IDENTIFIES HYPOTHALAMIC NEURONS GOVERNING PARENTAL BEHAVIOR IN MICE

Original journal article in Nature, “Galanin neurons in the medial preoptic area govern parental behaviour” 

Boston Globe story, “Brain Circuits May Control Parental Behavior” 

Harvard Gazette story, “Parental Controls” 

In collaborative study with Arlotta lab, Lichtman team characterizes myelin distribution of single cortical axons

Original Journal Article in Science:
“Distinct profiles of myelin distribution along single axons of pyramidal neurons in the neocortex“

Harvard Gazette story: 
“Turning science on its head”