Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mehran Ahmadlou, Janou H. W. Houba, Jacqueline F. M. van Vierbergen, Maria Giannouli, Geoffrey-Alexander Gimenez, Christiaan van Weeghel, Maryam Darbanfouladi, Maryam Yasamin Shirazi, Julia Dziubek, Mejdy Kacem, Fred de Winter, J. Alexander Heimel
Summary: Inhibitory neurons in the medial zona incerta (ZIm) of mice play a crucial role in deciding whether to investigate the surroundings or another individual. These neurons receive excitatory input from the prelimbic cortex to initiate and regulate exploratory behavior. The level of investigatory motivation modulates this neural activity in ZIm, influencing the depth of investigative actions.
Article
Neurosciences
Anna Schroeder, M. Belen Pardi, Joram Keijser, Tamas Dalmay, Ayelen I. Groisman, Erin M. Schuman, Henning Sprekeler, Johannes J. Letzkus
Summary: This study combines various techniques such as synaptic two-photon calcium imaging, circuit mapping, cortex-dependent learning, and chemogenetics in mice to investigate the role of inhibitory top-down projections. The results show that GABAergic afferents from the subthalamic zona incerta play a major role in transmitting top-down input to the neocortex. This transmission undergoes plasticity during learning and contributes to information transfer and behavioral memory.
Article
Neurosciences
Ilya E. Monosov, Takaya Ogasawara, Suzanne N. Haber, J. Alexander Heimel, Mehran Ahmadlou
Summary: Mammals rely on a sophisticated nervous system for generating predictions and selecting responses. Perceptually novel objects play an important role in their behavior. The zona incerta (ZI) is positioned at the intersection of cognitive control and learning, supported by its anatomical connectivity.
CURRENT OPINION IN NEUROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Diana Casas-Torremocha, Mario Rubio-Teves, Anna Hoerder-Suabedissen, Shuichi Hayashi, Lucia Prensa, Zoltan Molnar, Cesar Porrero, Francisco Clasca
Summary: This study systematically analyzed the input landscape of the posterior nucleus (Po), a representative higher-order relay nucleus in the mouse thalamus. The findings revealed complex and partly overlapping input-specific microdomains and suggested the integration of specific input motifs and the emergence of functionally diverse input-output subnetworks within the higher-order relay nuclei.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Andreas Nowacki, Sabry Barlatey, Bassam Al-Fatly, Till Dembek, Maarten Bot, Alexander L. Green, Dorothee Kubler, M. Lenard Lachenmayer, Ines Debove, Alba Segura-Amil, Andreas Horn, Veerle Visser-Vandewalle, Rick Schuurman, Michael Barbe, Tipu Z. Aziz, Andrea A. Kuhn, T. A. Khoa Nguyen, Claudio Pollo
Summary: The objective of this study was to analyze individual clinical and neuroimaging data of patients undergoing deep brain stimulation for essential tremor and identify predictors of outcome and an optimal stimulation site. The results showed a cluster of optimal stimulation that significantly improved tremor and coincided with a normative structural connectivity-based cerebellothalamic tract.
ANNALS OF NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Amarender R. Bogadhi, Leor N. Katz, Anil Bollimunta, David A. Leopold, Richard J. Krauzlis
Summary: Recent fMRI experiments have identified the floor of the superior temporal sulcus (fSTS) in the macaque temporal cortex as the primary cortical target of superior colliculus (SC) activity in relation to attention. The inactivation of SC decreases attentional modulations in fSTS neurons by increasing their activity for ignored stimuli and decreasing their activity for attended stimuli. Furthermore, SC inactivation leads to a reduction in the selectivity of fSTS neurons for particular visual objects.
Article
Neurosciences
Chang-Hui Chen, Jin-Meng Hu, Shun-Yu Zhang, Xiao-Jun Xiang, Sheng-Qiang Chen, Song-Lin Ding
Summary: The prostriata area in rats and mice receives inputs from multimodal cortical areas and subcortical regions, as well as direct afferents from the rostral part of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus. Its outputs mainly target subcortical visuomotor nuclei, suggesting its role in analyzing peripheral visual information and initiating adaptive visuomotor behaviors in response to looming threats.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Jingyi Wang, Yohan John, Helen Barbas
Summary: The ACC is one of the few prefrontal areas that receives direct hippocampal terminations, potentially influencing goal-directed actions and emotional regulation. Hippocampal terminations mainly target the posterior A25 region, with strong excitatory effects on neurons. Additionally, the proximity of hippocampal terminations to D1 receptors in the deep layers of A25 may enhance dopamine effects on information transfer and emotional control.
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Marius Braunsdorf, Guilherme Blazquez Freches, Lea Roumazeilles, Nicole Eichert, Matthias Schurz, Sebo Uithol, Katherine L. Bryant, Rogier B. Mars
Summary: The temporal cortex is a specialized structure in primates, with considerable variation in size, morphology, and connectivity across species. Human temporal cortex is involved in behaviors like semantic processing, language, and theory of mind which are well developed in humans. While many human behaviors can be explained as elaborations of temporal cortex functions observed in other primates, changes in temporal lobe white matter suggest increased integration of information within temporal cortex and between posterior temporal cortex and other association areas, enabling behaviors not possible in other species.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2021)
Review
Neurosciences
Alex Fratzl, Sonja B. Hofer
Summary: Prethalamic nuclei in the mammalian brain play a crucial role in influencing brain functions and behaviors, including sleep, feeding, and exploration. These nuclei integrate sensory and non-sensory information and promote specific behavioral strategies by modulating inhibitory drive onto different target areas.
Article
Neurosciences
Tomoyuki Namima, Anitha Pasupathy
Summary: The study revealed that responses of neurons in macaque inferior temporal cortex to partially occluded objects are linearly separable, and can distinctly represent the occluded and occluding stimuli at different levels of occlusion, supporting the hypothesis that neurons encode a segmented representation of the visual scene.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Cong Wang, Teri M. Furlong, Peter G. Stratton, Conrad C. Y. Lee, Li Xu, Sam Merlin, Chris Nolan, Ehsan Arabzadeh, Roger Marek, Pankaj Sah
Summary: During recognition memory, coupled theta activity between the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex plays a key role in novelty discrimination, with monosynaptic connections identified as crucial for guiding behavior based on recognition memory.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Zahra Farzinpour, An Liu, Peng Cao, Yu Mao, Zhi Zhang, Yan Jin
Summary: This study suggests that microglial cells play a critical role in anxiety-like behaviors induced by pain. Changes in microglial engulfment capacity of neuronal spines were found to be associated with pain and anxiety-like behaviors in mice. Activation or inhibition of specific neurons in the brain region called ventral zona incerta (ZI(V)) could alleviate or induce pain and anxiety-like behaviors. Furthermore, inhibition of microglial engulfment capacity reversed pain sensitization and anxiety-like behaviors.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Emily T. Cowan, Matthew Fain, Ian O'Shea, Lauren M. Ellman, Vishnu P. Murty
Summary: The study shows that novelty has an impact on brain circuits, particularly the interactions between the hippocampal-VTA circuit and cortical networks. Following exposure to novelty, functional coupling is enhanced between the right anterior hippocampus and VTA, with distinct patterns of post-novelty functional coupling enhancements observed in the anterior hippocampus and VTA, targeting task-relevant regions and large-scale networks respectively.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Lijun Zhang, Pei Zhang, Guangjian Qi, Hongwei Cai, Tongxia Li, Ming Li, Chi Cui, Jie Lei, Kun Ren, Jian Yang, Jie Ming, Bo Tian
Summary: This study investigates the effect of emotional stress on aversive learning using a mouse model. The results suggest that a TH+ circuit from the zona incerta (ZI) to the basomedial amygdala (BMA) plays a crucial role in aversive expectation and is involved in aversive learning deficits induced by 3C-VSDS. These findings highlight the significance of this circuit in aversive learning.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Ahmad Jezzini, Stefano Rozzi, Elena Borra, Vittorio Gallese, Fausto Caruana, Marzio Gerbella
FRONTIERS IN BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE
(2015)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Kaining Zhang, Charles D. Chen, Ilya E. Monosov
Article
Neurosciences
Corey M. Ziemba, Richard K. Perez, Julia Pai, Jenna G. Kelly, Luke E. Hallum, Christopher Shooner, J. Anthony Movshon
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2019)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
J. Kael White, Ethan S. Bromberg-Martin, Sarah R. Heilbronner, Kaining Zhang, Julia Pai, Suzanne N. Haber, Ilya E. Monosov
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2019)
Article
Neurosciences
Ahmad Jezzini, Camillo Padoa-Schioppa
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2020)
Article
Neurosciences
Ahmad Jezzini, Ethan S. Bromberg-Martin, Lucas R. Trambaiolli, Suzanne N. Haber, Ilya E. Monosov
Summary: Research has shown that both humans and animals have distinct attitudes when seeking information about rewards and punishments, which can be differentiated at both behavioral and neuronal levels. Prefrontal neurons are able to anticipate information about punishments and rewards separately, while the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex can integrate attitudes towards both types of information in a bivalent manner. This cortical network is well-suited for mediating information seeking by integrating the desire to resolve uncertainty about multiple distinct motivational outcomes.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Kaining Zhang, Ethan S. Bromberg-Martin, Fatih Sogukpinar, Kim Kocher, Ilya E. Monosov
Summary: Through electrophysiological study in primates, it is found that object novelty detection is related to the computation of recency and sensory surprise. Different circuits may be engaged by expected and unexpected sensory surprises. Additionally, there are diverse timescales in neuronal learning rates and forgetting rates between sessions, which support flexible behavior and learning in response to novelty.
Editorial Material
Neurosciences
Julia Pai, Ilya E. Monosov
Summary: Akiti et al. demonstrate that dopamine in the tail of the rodent striatum predicts and regulates variability in individuals' behavioral responses to unexpected novel objects.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Kaining Zhang, Lang Chen, Teng Zhang, Jianying Lu, Danyang Liu, Junying Wu
Summary: Although explosives are widely used, the understanding of the chemical reactions and structural changes during explosive reactions is incomplete. This study presents a quantitative model of molecular structure deformation and a qualitative model of its relationship with molecular structure destruction, based on molecular dynamics simulation and analysis of the shock-loaded epsilon-CL-20. The findings contribute to the research on explosives and can be applied to analyze microscopic reaction mechanisms in other materials.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Julia Pai, Takaya Ogasawara, Ethan S. Bromberg-Martin, Kei Ogasawara, Robert W. Gereau, Ilya E. Monosov
Summary: Neuroeconomics investigates the impact of reward and punishment values on decision-making, but little is known about the influence of noxious experiences on decisions. In this study, researchers used laser stimulation to investigate how neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex encode the value of rewards and punishments. They found that some neurons integrated positive reward value with the negative value of aversive laser stimulation, suggesting a role for the orbitofrontal cortex in more complex decision-making than previously thought.
CELL REPORTS METHODS
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Jonathan Krynitsky, Alex A. Legaria, Julia J. Pai, Marcial Garmendia-Cedillos, Ghadi Salem, Tom Pohida, Alexxai Kravitz