120 words of sodom
You may know that we've just completed a years worth of research in the lab. One convention that I’m presenting at (at Stanford) requires an abstract of only 120 words. Now, how do you condense a years worth of fun and excitement into 120 words? Well, you omit all extraneous details. Just in case you were interested, here is my parvus opus - all 119 words of it - entitled "Blocked Serotonergic and Muscarinic Pathways Disrupts Head Direction Cells"
Head Direction (HD) cells’ activity increases when the animal faces a preferred direction (PD), suggesting a role in navigation. Research has shown that combined administration of serotonergic and cholinergic antagonists produce spatial impairment in rats. We hypothesized that the PD of HD cells would be affected by 5-HT and muscarinic antagonists. In 8 Long-Evans rats HD cells were isolated. Control sessions determined the PD of the cell. The PD of HD cells changed in several ways following injections of both methiothepin (0.25 mg/kg) and scopolamine (1 mg/kg): 1) the PD of HD cells shifted unpredictably; 2) PD was no longer controlled by visual cues; and 3) cells showed burst-like activity. Findings provide evidence that this network has navigational uses.
You know "pure" science writing is very dry - my apologies...
Head Direction (HD) cells’ activity increases when the animal faces a preferred direction (PD), suggesting a role in navigation. Research has shown that combined administration of serotonergic and cholinergic antagonists produce spatial impairment in rats. We hypothesized that the PD of HD cells would be affected by 5-HT and muscarinic antagonists. In 8 Long-Evans rats HD cells were isolated. Control sessions determined the PD of the cell. The PD of HD cells changed in several ways following injections of both methiothepin (0.25 mg/kg) and scopolamine (1 mg/kg): 1) the PD of HD cells shifted unpredictably; 2) PD was no longer controlled by visual cues; and 3) cells showed burst-like activity. Findings provide evidence that this network has navigational uses.
You know "pure" science writing is very dry - my apologies...