Using the high throughput in situ expression data from Allen Brain Atlas, Mercer et al. have recently shown that more than 800 different ncRNAs are widely expressed in the adult brain (Mercer et al., 2008). In another study, Landgraf et al. created a miRNA expression atlas by sequencing and analyzing multiple smRNAs libraries (Landgraf et al., 2007). Their data also reveals a tissue/cell specific expression of these RNAs, which correlates with in situ expression data. Hence, it is likely that ncRNAs play an important role in basic aspects of brain function and behavior.
