Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Xiao-Jun Chen, Yan-He Liu, Ning-Long Xu, Yan-Gang Sun
Summary: This study reveals the neural mechanism underlying itch perceptual coding in the primary somatosensory cortex, providing insights into the cortical representation of itch perception at the single-neuron level in freely moving animals.
NATIONAL SCIENCE REVIEW
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Antoine Carton-Leclercq, Sarah Lecas, Mario Chavez, Stephane Charpier, Severine Mahon
Summary: The study investigated the characteristics of cell excitability and sensory responses in the thalamo-cortical pathway during an isoflurane-induced isoelectric brain state using a new in vivo rat model. It was found that a certain level of cell excitability and sensory integration persists in the isoelectric state and full recovery of cortico-thalamic functions occurs after restoration of internal cerebral activities.
JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-LONDON
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Manh Van Pham, Kei Saito, Shota Miyaguchi, Hiraku Watanabe, Hitomi Ikarashi, Kazuaki Nagasaka, Hirotake Yokota, Sho Kojima, Yasuto Inukai, Naofumi Otsuru, Hideaki Onishi
Summary: This study investigated how motor skill training affects the excitability of the primary somatosensory cortex. The results showed that complex visuomotor tasks were more efficient in inducing motor learning and led to changes in somatosensory evoked potential. These changes were associated with an increase in motor learning efficiency.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Sebastian M. Frank, Alexandra Otto, Gregor Volberg, Peter U. Tse, Takeo Watanabe, Mark W. Greenlee
Summary: This study demonstrates that tactile learning can transfer to untrained body parts that are coactivated with the trained body part. The researchers found that the transfer of tactile learning was greater from the trained foot to the untrained hand compared to the other way around. The results suggest that the neural mechanisms underlying tactile learning involve somatotopic representation in the primary somatosensory cortex.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biology
Jorrit S. Montijn, Koen Seignette, Marcus H. Howlett, J. Leonie Cazemier, Maarten Kamermans, Christiaan N. Levelt, J. Alexander Heimel
Summary: This study introduces a new neurophysiological data analysis method, the ZETA-test, which can better include more cells and is applicable across different brain regions and recording techniques. Through experiments, the method demonstrated two different neural encoding phenomena in the mouse visual cortex.
Article
Neurosciences
Lex J. Gomez, James C. Dooley, Greta Sokoloff, Mark S. Blumberg
Summary: The study suggests that the primary motor cortex (M1) can receive sensory input directly from the thalamus independent of the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) at early developmental stages. The processing of self-generated and other-generated movements varies between S1 and M1 before they establish the interactive relationship typical of adult functionality.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Aurelie Brecier, Melodie Borel, Nadia Urbain, Luc J. Gentet
Summary: GABAergic inhibitory neurons play a crucial role in regulating cortical circuit activity during the sleep/wake cycle. This study investigated the activity dynamics of PV, VIP, and SST neurons in the somatosensory cortex of sleeping mice. The findings revealed that PV neurons were most active during both REM and NREM sleep, VIP neurons were most active during REM sleep, and the overall activity of SST neurons remained stable throughout the sleep/wake cycle. Furthermore, the study found that ongoing delta and theta oscillations influenced the activity of most neurons, except for SST neurons.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Orhan Tansel Korkmaz, Sertan Arkan, Elif Mine Oncu-Kaya, Nurbay Ates, Nese Tuncel
Summary: In this study, treatment with VIP significantly suppressed spike wave discharges in WAG/Rij rats, indicating a suppressive effect on absence seizures. However, VIP had no significant impact on the behavior of these rats.
NEUROSCIENCE LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Geoffrey N. Ngo, Koen Haak, Christian F. Beckmann, Ravi S. Menon
Summary: The study utilized resting-state functional connectivity to investigate topographical principles of the human S1, revealing a topographic organization along the hierarchical axis strongly related to microstructure. The findings characterize the anatomical hierarchy of S1 as a 'continuous spectrum' with a functional boundary between areas 3b and 1.
Article
Neurosciences
Hariom Sharma, Rony Azouz
Summary: This study reveals that cortical neurons transmit tactile information through multiple coding strategies, with synchronous spikes encoding the magnitude of stickslip events through temporal coding and asynchronous spikes encoding it through discharge rates, response probability, and interspike intervals.
Article
Neurosciences
Isma Zulfiqar, Martin Havlicek, Michelle Moerel, Elia Formisano
Summary: Recent fMRI studies have shown differences in responses to natural sounds along the rostral-caudal axis of the human superior temporal gyrus. A forward model combining neuronal and hemodynamic BOLD response modeling was used to link neuronal response properties with fMRI data, revealing complementary neural information processing along this axis.
Article
Neurosciences
Aaron M. Williams, Christopher F. Angeloni, Maria N. Geffen
Summary: In this study, the researchers investigated how sound and movement interact to modulate V1 visual responses in awake, head-fixed mice. They found that sound modulated the activity of a large percentage of light-responsive neurons, with most neurons increasing their activity in the presence of auditory stimuli. The study also revealed that sound and movement had distinct and complementary effects on neuronal visual responses, improving the decoding of visual stimuli from neuronal activity. These findings enhance our understanding of multimodal processing in the awake brain and clarify the potential confounding role of movement in neuronal audiovisual responses.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Masashi Kondo, Masanori Matsuzaki
Summary: The study reveals that the activity of neocortical neurons in mice during classical conditioning is influenced by reward cues and outcome history, with the dorsomedial frontal cortex (dmFrC) playing a crucial role in licking movements.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Shenghui Wu, Cunle Qian, Xiang Shen, Xiang Zhang, Yifan Huang, Shuhang Chen, Yiwen Wang
Summary: This study investigates the functional relationship between the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and primary motor cortex (M1) during task learning. The results show a highly correlated relationship between mPFC and M1 activities, with higher-order nonlinear interactions playing a significant role in predicting M1 activity from mPFC activity. In addition, the correlation between mPFC and M1 spikes increases as subjects become more trained on the new task. This study demonstrates the importance of considering the dynamic patterns of M1 spikes and their relationship with mPFC spikes in the design of brain-machine interfaces for task learning.
JOURNAL OF NEURAL ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Chris C. Rodgers, Ramon Nogueira, B. Christina Pil, Esther A. Greeman, Jung M. Park, Y. Kate Hong, Stefan Fusi, Randy M. Bruno
Summary: In a study involving head-fixed mice, it was found that neurons in the sensory cortex encoded touch, whisker motion, and task-related signals with a task-specific focus. During a shape discrimination task, neurons responded most to behaviorally relevant whiskers, indicating that sensory cortex employs task-specific representations compatible with behaviorally relevant computations.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nina Milosavljevic, Riccardo Storchi, Cyril G. Eleftheriou, Andrea Colins, Rasmus S. Petersen, Robert J. Lucas
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2018)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
R. Storchi, J. Rodgers, M. Gracey, F. P. Martial, J. Wynne, S. Ryan, C. J. Twining, T. F. Cootes, R. Killick, R. J. Lucas
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2019)
Review
Neurosciences
Robert J. Lucas, Annette E. Allen, Nina Milosavljevic, Riccardo Storchi, Tom Woelders
ANNUAL REVIEW OF VISION SCIENCE, VOL 6, 2020
(2020)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Riccardo Storchi, Nina Milosavljevic, Annette E. Allen, Antonio G. Zippo, Aayushi Agnihotri, Timothy F. Cootes, Robert J. Lucas
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Alessandra Patera, Antonio G. Zippo, Anne Bonnin, Marco Stampanoni, Gabriele E. M. Biella
Summary: The study demonstrates the potential of using high-throughput synchrotron-based tomographic microscopy to visualize and quantify 3D details of brain tissue, previously unachievable with unprecedented image quality and resolution.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMAGING SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Patrycja Orlowska-Feuer, Annette Elisabeth Allen, Timothy Matthew Brown, Hanna Jowita Szkudlarek, Robert James Lucas, Riccardo Storchi
Summary: Neurophysiological activity in the subcortical visual system shows fluctuations in infra-slow and fast oscillatory ranges, with the phase of infra-slow modulating fast beta/gamma oscillations. Genetic ablations reveal that infra-slow and fast oscillations interact uniquely, potentially guiding visual processing. This interaction may play a significant role in vision function and disruptions in these oscillatory behaviors could contribute to vision dysfunction in retinal dystrophy.
JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-LONDON
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jessica Rodgers, Beatriz Bano-Otalora, Mino D. C. Belle, Sarika Paul, Rebecca Hughes, Phillip Wright, Richard McDowell, Nina Milosavljevic, Patrycja Orlowska-Feuer, Franck P. Martial, Jonathan Wynne, Edward R. Ballister, Riccardo Storchi, Annette E. Allen, Timothy Brown, Robert J. Lucas
Summary: There is no consensus on the best inhibitory optogenetic tool. Gi/o signalling is a native mechanism of neuronal inhibition, and Lamprey Parapinopsin (Lamplight) can be used for optogenetic silencing by switching between stable signalling active and inactive states with different wavelengths. The properties of Lamplight can be applied to achieve switchable neuronal hyperpolarisation and suppression of spontaneous spike firing in specific brain regions. Expressing Lamplight in ON bipolar cells can photosensitise retinas following advanced photoreceptor degeneration, showing potential for scalable, sustained, and reversible optogenetic inhibition.
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Gorana Mijatovic, Tatjana Loncar-Turukalo, Nebojsa Bozanic, Nina Milosavljevic, Riccardo Storchi, Luca Faes
Summary: This work proposes a novel approach to estimate the degree of concomitant firing between two neural units using a modified form of mutual information, providing insights into neural synchrony over time and detecting correlated and anti-correlated firing patterns. The resulting measure, denoted as CFIMI, is independent on firing rate and recording duration, sensitive to different firing patterns, and offers a new perspective on the estimation of neural synchrony.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Claudio Duran, Sara Ciucci, Alessandra Palladini, Umer Z. Ijaz, Antonio G. Zippo, Francesco Paroni Sterbini, Luca Masucci, Giovanni Cammarota, Gianluca Ianiro, Pirjo Spuul, Michael Schroeder, Stephan W. Grill, Bryony N. Parsons, D. Mark Pritchard, Brunella Posteraro, Maurizio Sanguinetti, Giovanni Gasbarrini, Antonio Gasbarrini, Carlo Vittorio Cannistraci
Summary: The authors highlight the significant alterations of gastric microbiome caused by drug use or bacterial infection, and demonstrate how advanced pattern recognition by nonlinear machine intelligence can help disclose a bacteria-metabolite network which enlightens mechanisms behind such perturbations.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Patrycja Orlowska-Feuer, Aghileh S. Ebrahimi, Antonio G. Zippo, Rasmus S. Petersen, Robert J. Lucas, Riccardo Storchi
Summary: The primary visual thalamus in mice is potentially involved in specific visuomotor integration, as suggested by the coupling between neuronal activity and head postures associated with looking up and down.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jessica Rodgers, Steven Hughes, Moritz Lindner, Annette E. Allen, Aghileh S. Ebrahimi, Riccardo Storchi, Stuart N. Peirson, Robert J. Lucas, Mark W. Hankins
Summary: Photoreceptor degeneration can lead to severe visual loss but often spares the inner retina, providing hope for vision restoration treatments using optogenetics or electrical stimulation. In a mouse model, the optogenetic actuator ReaChR was found to generate a visual code similar to the wild-type, indicating the impressive ability of surviving circuitry to recreate a rich visual code following retinal degeneration. These findings have important implications for regenerative medicine in the central nervous system.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Aghileh S. Ebrahimi, Patrycja Orlowska-Feuer, Qian Huang, Antonio G. Zippo, Franck P. Martial, Rasmus S. Petersen, Riccardo Storchi
Summary: The 3D-UPPER algorithm allows for accurate 3D reconstruction of freely moving animals, with the advantages of being fully automated, requiring no prior knowledge, and applicable to 2D data.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Antonio Luca Alfeo, Antonio G. Zippo, Vincenzo Catrambone, Mario G. C. A. Cimino, Nicola Toschi, Gaetano Valenza
Summary: This study proposes a new method for computing feature importance by aggregating local counterfactual explanations, which overcomes the limitations of traditional methods. Experimental results demonstrate that this approach is more robust and computationally efficient in handling high-dimensional and highly correlated brain signals. This is crucial for medical decision support systems.
COMPUTER METHODS AND PROGRAMS IN BIOMEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Giorgia Giansante, Sara Mazzoleni, Antonio G. Zippo, Luisa Ponzoni, Anna Ghilardi, Greta Maiellano, Elly Lewerissa, Eline van Hugte, Nael Nadif Kasri, Maura Francolini, Mariaelvina Sala, Luca Murru, Silvia Bassani, Maria Passafaro
Summary: Mutations in the PCDH19 gene cause DEE9, leading to synaptic defects, hyperexcitable neurons, altered network firing rate, and increased neuronal synchronization. These findings suggest that abnormal PCDH19 expression profoundly affects circuit functioning and provides new insights into DEE9 pathogenesis.
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2023)