Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 12, 2026

Studying the Integration of Adult-born Neurons
Published on: March 25, 2011
Aneuploid neurons are functionally active and integrated into brain circuitry
M A Kingsbury1, B Friedman, M J McConnell
1Department of Molecular Biology, Helen L. Dorris Institute for the Study of Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders of Children and Adolescents, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, ICND 118, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Abstract:
The existence of aneuploid cells within the mammalian brain has suggested the influence of genetic mosaicism on normal neural circuitry. However, aneuploid cells might instead be glia, nonneural, or dying cells, which are irrelevant to direct neuronal signaling. Combining retrograde labeling with FISH for chromosome-specific loci, distantly labeled aneuploid neurons were observed in expected anatomical projection areas. Coincident labeling for immediate early gene expression indicated that these aneuploid neurons were functionally active. These results demonstrate that functioning neurons with aneuploid genomes form genetically mosaic neural circuitries as part of the normal organization of the mammalian brain.
Related Concept Videos
Neural Regulation
The Synapse
The Role of Ion Channels in Neuronal Computation
Sometimes a single EPSP is strong enough to induce an action potential in the postsynaptic neuron. However, multiple presynaptic inputs must often create EPSPs around the same time for the postsynaptic neuron to be sufficiently depolarized to fire an action potential.
Nervous Tissue: Neuron Types
Structurally, neurons are categorized into three main types: multipolar, bipolar, and unipolar (or pseudounipolar). Multipolar neurons, which are the most common type in the brain and spinal cord, as well as all motor neurons, possess multiple dendrites and a single axon.
Bipolar neurons, on the other hand, have one primary dendrite and one axon. They are...
Neural Circuits
Neuronal pools are collections of nerve cells with similar functions and interact through chemical and electrical signals. These pools include both interneurons (the central neural circuit nodes that...
Neuroplasticity

