Mapping Brain Connectivity with SBARRO | Arpiar Saunders | One Scientist's Mind

2023 One Mind Rising Star Awardee Arpiar Saunders joins UCLA Professor & Scientist and One Mind SAB member Carrie Bearden to share how he crafted "SBARRO" (Synaptic Barcode Analysis by Retrograde Rabies ReadOut) to map brain connectivity.

On this episode of “One Scientist’s Mind,” created with support provided by Bank of America, One Mind Scientific Advisory Board member Dr. Carrie Bearden speaks with One Mind Rising Star Awardee Dr. Arpiar Saunders, PhD about how he developed the SBARRO technique to identify specific neurons and build maps of brain connectivity. Arpiar explains how there is a need to develop new methods for studying genetic variation, which led him to developing the SBARRO method which utilizes a combination of two techniques: molecular barcoding (or viral barcoding, similar to DNA barcoding) and single-cell genomics.

What exactly is SBARRO? SBARRO is "a method that uses single-cell RNA sequencing to reveal directional, monosynaptic relationships based on the paths of a barcoded rabies virus from its “starter” postsynaptic cell to that cell’s presynaptic partners...By tracking individual rabies clones across cells, SBARRO offers new opportunities to map the synaptic organization of neural circuits." Read more: https://bit.ly/SBARRO-Method

Watch the full interview to learn more about Arpiar Saunder's work in studying the role of genetic variation in brain organization, the challenges that come with developing genomic systems to study the variations, how his lab uses a three-pronged approach of 1) Invent 2) Explore and 3) Test, as well as the unique roles that the striatum & glutamate play in schizophrenia.

KEY MOMENTS
00:00 - Introductions
00:40 - Genetic Variation’s Role in Brain Organization
02:53 - Three-Pronged Approach: Invent, Explore, & Test
04:15 - Molecular Barcoding & Single Cell Genomic Measurements
06:08 - Developing the SBARRO Technique
07:55 - Viruses, RNA, & Mapping Connectivity
09:31 - What is DropViz?
12:35 - Striatum & Schizophrenia
13:46 - Glutamate & Schizophrenia

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