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The human brain is teeming with diversity. By plucking out delicate, live tissue during neurosurgery and then studying the resident cells, researchers have revealed a partial cast of neural characters that give rise to our thoughts, dreams and memories.

So far, researchers with the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle have described the intricate shapes and electrical properties of about 100 nerve cells, or neurons, taken from the brains of 36 patients as they underwent surgery for conditions such as brain tumors or epilepsy. To reach the right spot, surgeons had to remove a small hunk of brain tissue, which is usually discarded as medical waste. In this case, the brain tissue was promptly packed up and sent — alive — to the researchers.
Once there, the human tissue was kept on life support for several days as researchers analyzed the cells’ shape and function. Some neurons underwent detailed microscopy, which revealed intricate branching structures and a wide array of shapes. The cells also underwent tiny zaps of electricity, which allowed researchers to see how the neurons might have communicated with other nerve cells in the brain. The Allen Institute released the first publicly available database of these neurons on October 25.

A neuron called a pyramidal cell, for instance, has a bushy branch of dendrites (orange in 3-D computer reconstruction, above) reaching up from its cell body (white circle). Those dendrites collect signals from other neural neighbors. Other dendrites (red) branch out below. The cell’s axon (blue) sends signals to other cells that spur them to action.
Like the chandelier cell, a Martinotti cell (below) quiets other cells with messages coming from its tangled, tall axon, which spans several layers of the brain’s cortex — the wrinkly, outer layer that’s involved in higher-level thought. And in a basket cell (above), axon branches, which allow the nerve cell to send messages to other neurons, cluster densely around the cell body.
Because the neurons play different roles in the brain, the new collection could help researchers figure out the details of those diverse jobs. Similar data exist for cells taken from the brains of other animals, such as mice, but until now, data on live cells from people have been scarce.

“These neurons are amazingly beautiful,” says Ed Lein, a neuroscientist at the Allen Institute who works on the project. “They look like trees. They’re much more complex than similar cells in a mouse.”

We're now into the second half of the qualifying schedule and it's Canada at the top of the CONCACAF 2022 World Cup qualifying standings.

A 2-1 home win over Mexico allowed the Canadians to overtake the USA atop the eight-team table. Canada is the only remaining unbeaten team in qualifying as it continues to push to qualify for its first World Cup since 1986.

The USA (2nd, 15 points) and Mexico (3rd, 14 points), long the powers of the region, are now chasing. Meanwhile, Panama continued its surge with another dramatic come-from-behind victory to go level with Mexico on 14 points. The top three teams earn automatic berths to the World Cup, while fourth-place earns passage to a play-in series for one of the final spots in Qatar 2022.

The other half of the table is in precarious position. A group of three teams — Costa Rica (5th), Jamaica (6th), El Salvador (7th) — is now between 5-8 points behind Panama for fourth place. Meanwhile, it's looking unlikely that Honduras will be able to recover from its last-place point total. 

The first standings tiebreakers are (1) goal difference, (2) goals scored and (3) most points obtained from matches between teams that are tied. The full list of tiebreakers and results for Matchdays 1-7 follow at the bottom of this post.

CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Standings & Results
Team PTS GP W L D GF GA GD

1. Canada 16 8 4 0 4 13 5 +8
2. USA 15 8 4 1 3 12 5 +7
3. Mexico 14 8 4 2 2 11 7 +4
4. Panama 14 8 4 2 2 11 9 +2
5. Costa Rica 9 8 2 3 3 6 7 -1
6. Jamaica 7 8 1 3 4 6 10 -4
7. El Salvador 6 8 1 4 3 4 10 -6
8. Honduras 3 8 0 5 3 5 15 -10
   Matchday 8
   Date Match
   Tues, Nov. 16, 2021 Jamaica 1 , USA 1 Highlights
   Tues, Nov. 16, 2021 Costa Rica 2 , Honduras 1 Highlights
   Tues, Nov. 16, 2021 Panama 2 , El Salvador 1 Highlights
   Tues, Nov. 16, 2021 Canada 2, Mexico 1 Highlights
   Matchday 9
   Date Match Time (ET) Stream
   Thurs, Jan. 27, 2022 Honduras vs. Canada TBD TBD
   Thurs, Jan. 27, 2022 USA vs. El Salvador TBD TBD
   Thurs, Jan. 27, 2022 Costa Rica vs. Panama TBD TBD
   Thurs, Jan. 27, 2022 Jamaica vs. Mexico TBD TBD
   Matchday 10
   Date Match Time (ET) Stream
   Sun, Jan. 30, 2022 Canada vs. USA TBD TBD
   Sun, Jan. 30, 2022 Honduras vs. El Salvador TBD TBD
   Sun, Jan. 30, 2022 Mexico vs. Costa Rica TBD TBD
   Sun, Jan. 30, 2022 Panama vs. Jamaica TBD TBD
   Matchday 11
   Date Match Time (ET) Stream
   Wed, Feb. 2, 2022 El Salvador vs. Canada TBD TBD
   Wed, Feb. 2, 2022 USA vs. Honduras TBD TBD
   Wed, Feb. 2, 2022 Mexico vs. Panama TBD TBD
   Wed, Feb. 2, 2022 Jamaica vs. Costa Rica TBD TBD
   Matchday 12
   Date Match Time (ET) Stream
   Thurs, March 24, 2022 Costa Rica vs. Canada TBD TBD
   Thurs, March 24, 2022 Panama vs. Honduras TBD TBD
   Thurs, March 24, 2022 Jamaica vs. El Salvador TBD TBD
   Thurs, March 24, 2022 Mexico vs. USA TBD TBD
   Matchday 13
   Date Match Time (ET) Stream
   Sun, March 27, 2022 Canada vs. Jamaica TBD TBD
   Sun, March 27, 2022 Honduras vs. Mexico TBD TBD
   Sun, March 27, 2022 El Salvador vs. Costa Rica TBD TBD
   Sun, March 27, 2022 USA vs. Panama TBD TBD
   Matchday 14
   Date Match Time (ET) Stream
   Wed, March 30, 2022 Panama vs. Canada TBD TBD
   Wed, March 30, 2022 Jamaica vs. Honduras TBD TBD
   Wed, March 30, 2022 Mexico vs. El Salvador TBD TBD
   Wed, March 30, 2022 Costa Rica vs. USA TBD TBD
   CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying results & highlights
   Matchday 1
   Date Match
   Thurs, Sept. 2, 2021 Canada 1, Honduras 1 Highlights
   Thurs, Sept. 2, 2021 Panama 0, Costa Rica 0 Highlights
   Thurs, Sept. 2, 2021 Mexico 2, Jamaica 1 Highlights
   Thurs, Sept. 2, 2021 El Salvador 0, USA 0 Highlights
   Matchday 2
   Date Match
   Sun, Sept. 5, 2021 Jamaica 0, Panama 3 Highlights
   Sun, Sept. 5, 2021 Costa Rica 0, Mexico 1 Highlights
   Sun, Sept. 5, 2021 El Salvador 0, Honduras 0 Highlights
   Sun, Sept. 5, 2021 USA 1, Canada 1 Highlights
   Matchday 3
   Date Match
   Wed, Sept. 8, 2021 Canada 3, El Salvador 0 Highlights
   Wed, Sept. 8, 2021 Panama 1, Mexico 1 Highlights
   Wed, Sept. 8, 2021 Costa Rica 1, Jamaica 1 Highlights
   Wed, Sept. 8, 2021 Honduras 1, USA 4 Highlights
   Matchday 4
   Date Match
   Thurs, Oct. 7, 2021 USA 2, Jamaica 0 Highlights
   Thurs, Oct. 7, 2021 Honduras 0, Costa Rica 0 Highlights
   Thurs, Oct. 7, 2021 Mexico 1, Canada 1 Highlights
   Thurs, Oct. 7, 2021 El Salvador 1, Panama 0 Highlights
   Matchday 5
   Date Match
   Sun, Oct. 10, 2021 Panama 1, USA 0 Highlights
   Sun, Oct. 10, 2021 Jamaica 0, Canada 0 Highlights
   Sun, Oct. 10, 2021 Costa Rica 2, El Salvador 1 Highlights
   Sun, Oct. 10, 2021 Mexico 3, Honduras 0 Highlights
   Matchday 6
   Date Match
   Wed, Oct. 13, 2021 USA 2, Costa Rica 1 Highlights
   Wed, Oct. 13, 2021 Canada 4, Panama 1 Highlights
   Wed, Oct. 13, 2021 Honduras 0, Jamaica 2 Highlights
   Wed, Oct. 13, 2021 El Salvador 0, Mexico 2 Highlights
   Matchday 7
   Date Match
   Fri, Nov. 12, 2021 Honduras 2 , Panama 3 Highlights
   Fri, Nov. 12, 2021 USA 2 , Mexico 0 Highlights
   Fri, Nov. 12, 2021 Canada 1 , Costa Rica 0 Highlights
   Fri, Nov. 12, 2021 El Salvador 1 , Jamaica 1 Highlights
   How CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying works
   Eight nations from the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) are competing for three automatic berths to the 2022 Qatar World Cup in the final "octagonal" qualifying round.

The eight countries are facing off in a round-robin format with each team playing the other seven opponents once at home and once on the road. The 14 total matches for each national team began in September 2021 and will wrap up in March 2022.

The top three finishers will earn automatic berths to Qatar, while the fourth-place team will head to an intercontinental playoff with a final ticket to Qatar on the line. Here are the standings tiebreakers for teams even on points:

Goal difference in all group matches
Most goals scored in all group matches
Most points obtained from group matches between teams concerned
Goal difference from group matches between teams concerned
Most goals scored in group matches between teams concerned
Goals scored away from home (if two teams tied)
Discipline points (based on yellow/red cards)
Drawing of lots by FIFA
The Qatar World Cup will be played from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18, 2022.