Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c915IR // #c915Synthesis

In the lab, slowing every signal down can blur their timing, so cells look like they fire together when they don't. In mice bred to carry a glowing sensor in their brains, the sensor itself probably caused seizure-like activity.

— In our words · Source: An Inconvenient Truth: Calcium Sensors Are Calcium Buffers (Shane M. McMahon & Meyer B. Jackson)

[Use when]

When a study's big finding is cells acting in sync, or odd brain activity in glowing mice. Check whether the sensor alone could produce it.

[Why it matters]

The distortion isn't just a smaller number. It can create false findings and even change how the brain behaves. The mouse result comes from a 2017 study the authors cite (Steinmetz et al., eNeuro).

More from An Inconvenient Truth: Calcium Sensors Are Calcium Buffers

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