An international team of researchers, studying macaque brains, have mapped out neurotransmitter receptors, revealing a potential role in distinguishing internal thoughts and emotions from those generated by external influences. 

The comprehensive dataset has been made publicly available, serving as a bridge linking different scales of neuroscience - from the microscopic to the whole brain. 

Lead author Sean Froudist-Walsh, from the University of Bristol’s Department of Computer Science explained: “Imagine the brain as a city. In recent years, brain research has been focused on been studying its roads, but in this research, we've made the most detailed map yet of the traffic lights - the neurotransmitter receptors - that control information flow. 

“We've discovered patterns in how these 'traffic lights' are arranged that help us understand their function in perception, memory, and emotion. It's like finding the key to a city's traffic flow, and it opens up exciting possibilities for understanding how the normal brain works. Potentially in the future, other researchers may use these maps to target particular brain networks and functions with new medicines. 

“Our study aimed to create the most detailed map yet of these 'traffic lights’.” 

Paper: Froudist-Walsh S et al. (2023). Gradients of neurotransmitter receptor expression in the macaque cortex. Nature Neuroscience.

Read the full University of Bristol news item