Microarrays in Brain Research: Data Quality and Limitations

In the post-genomic era, microarray technology will have a major impact on our understanding of complex gene expression patterns and circuit function in the brain. Due to the phenotypic and transcript complexity of the brain, transcriptome profiling data is multifaceted, and is best interpreted in the context of the cellular diversity of the studied brain region. In the near future, massive microarray datasets will be placed into a biological context. To separate biologically significant transcriptome differences from experimental noise, verification of microarray data and anatomical localization of expression changes to neuronal subpopulations will continue to be an integral part of microarray experiments.