Article
Cell Biology
Du Cheng, James S. Lee, Maximillian Brown, Margaret S. Ebert, Patrick T. McGrath, Masahiro Tomioka, Yuichi Iino, Cornelia I. Bargmann
Summary: Insulin/insulin-like growth factor receptor signaling plays an important role in integrating sensory information with food context to support synaptic plasticity and learning. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, aversive olfactory learning requires the insulin receptor substrate protein IST-1 and atypical signaling through the insulin/IGF-1 receptor DAF-2. Aversive learning alters synaptic transmission by suppressing odor-regulated glutamate release through axonal insulin signaling.
Article
Neurosciences
Shu-Ling Chiu, Chih-Ming Chen, Richard L. Huganir
Summary: The study revealed a novel function of ICA69 in AMPAR trafficking, synaptic plasticity, and animal cognition. ICA69 regulates the distribution and stability of PICK1 in neurons, which impacts AMPAR function in the brain. The genetic deletion of ICA69 selectively impairs NMDAR-dependent LTP and leads to behavioral deficits in spatial and associative learning and memory.
FRONTIERS IN MOLECULAR NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Shima Kouhnavardi, Alev Ecevitoglu, Vladimir Dragacevic, Fabrizio Sanna, Edgar Arias-Sandoval, Predrag Kalaba, Michael Kirchhofer, Jana Lubec, Marco Niello, Marion Holy, Martin Zehl, Matthias Pillwein, Judith Wackerlig, Rita Murau, Andrea Mohrmann, Kathryn R. Beard, Harald H. Sitte, Ernst Urban, Claudia Sagheddu, Marco Pistis, Roberto Plasenzotti, John D. Salamone, Thierry Langer, Gert Lubec, Francisco J. Monje
Summary: Dopamine and DAT signaling dysfunctions are associated with various neuropsychiatric disorders and progressive brain diseases, leading to devastating personal and familial concerns and high socioeconomic costs worldwide.
Article
Neurosciences
Raul Ramos, Chi-Hong Wu, Gina G. Turrigiano
Summary: Generalization is an adaptive mnemonic process that allows animals to use past learning experiences to navigate future scenarios. However, overgeneralization is a characteristic feature of anxiety disorders. This study demonstrates that strong conditioning results in a long-lasting generalized aversion that can persist for at least 2 weeks. The synaptic plasticity mechanisms that govern memory generalization and its persistence are explored, showing that strong conditioning leads to a long-lasting increase in synaptic strengths throughout different layers of the gustatory cortex. Repeated exposure to the generalized tastant causes a rapid attenuation of the generalized aversion and a reversal of the conditioning-induced increases in synaptic strength. These changes are more pronounced in the superficial layers. The data suggest that layer-specific synaptic plasticity mechanisms separately govern the persistence and generalization of memory for conditioned taste aversion.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Maria Mensch, Jade Dunot, Sandy M. Yishan, Samuel S. Harris, Aline Blistein, Alban Avdiu, Paula A. Pousinha, Camilla Giudici, Marc Aurel Busche, Peter Jedlicka, Michael Willem, Helene Marie
Summary: The study discovered that both A eta-alpha and A eta-beta peptides acutely impair LTP at low nanomolar concentrations ex vivo, with the N-terminus being a primary site of activity. The research also showed that A eta-beta inhibits neuronal activity in vivo, similar to A eta-alpha, and confirmed the impairment of LTP by A eta-alpha in vivo.
ALZHEIMERS RESEARCH & THERAPY
(2021)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Leigang Song, Huan Chen, Dan Qiao, Bohan Zhang, Fangzhen Guo, Yizhou Zhang, Chang Wang, Sha Li, Huixian Cui
Summary: Androgens regulate learning and memory in mice through ZIP9, which is mediated by the ERK1/2-eIF4E pathway. This study provides new experimental evidence for the improvement of learning and memory in Alzheimer's disease through androgen supplementation.
FRONTIERS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Daniel B. Dorman, Kim T. Blackwell
Summary: Synaptic plasticity, the experience-induced change in connections between neurons, plays a crucial role in learning and memory. This study investigates how spatiotemporal synaptic input patterns produce plasticity under in vivo-like conditions. The findings reveal the robustness of plasticity to trial-to-trial variability of spike timing and derive general rules describing the control of plasticity by spatiotemporal patterns of synaptic inputs.
Article
Neurosciences
Hai-Long Zhang, Bing Zhao, Pin Yang, Yin-Quan Du, Wei Han, Jianming Xu, Dong-Min Yin
Summary: This study investigates the role of steroid receptor coactivator 3 (SRC3) in the brain, specifically in the hippocampus, and finds that SRC3 plays a crucial role in hippocampus-dependent functions and memory, likely through its regulation of synaptic plasticity. These findings provide new insights into how steroid hormones regulate brain function.
NEUROSCIENCE BULLETIN
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yan Wang, Shidong Chen, Xiaohan Cheng, Wang Chen, Ziyu Xiong, Ziyu Lv, Chunyan Wu, Li Wang, Guohua Zhang, Xiaobo Zhu, Linbao Luo, Su-Ting Han
Summary: This study demonstrates a flexible multisensory learning system based on a 2D CaTa2O7 device, which can be adaptively reconfigured by light-activated resistive switching and features metaplasticity engineering. These characteristics significantly enhance the energy efficiency, power efficacy, and reliability of the neuromorphic computing system.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Review
Neurosciences
Yanis Inglebert, Dominique Debanne
Summary: The importance of considering physiological levels of extracellular calcium concentration in studying functional plasticity is discussed in this study.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Marise B. Parent, Hildebrando Candido Ferreira-Neto, Ana Rafaela Kruemmel, Ferdinand Althammer, Atit A. Patel, Sreinick Keo, Kathryn E. Whitley, Daniel N. Cox, Javier E. Stern
Summary: The study found that rats with severely reduced ejection fraction replicated the behavioral symptoms seen in patients with chronic heart failure, including increased anxiety and impaired memory. Heart failure led to downregulation of synaptic plasticity genes in the brain, particularly in the prefrontal cortex and hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus.
BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Sanjay N. Awathale, Akash M. Waghade, Harish M. Kawade, Gouri Jadhav, Amit G. Choudhary, Sneha Sagarkar, Amul J. Sakharkar, Nishikant K. Subhedar, Dadasaheb M. Kokare
Summary: The experiment in rats showed that training with light cues can enhance learning and memory formation, possibly related to increased neuronal activity and BDNF expression. Additionally, glutamatergic signaling and dopamine secretion may play a role in memory formation and behavioral changes.
MOLECULAR NEUROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Fang-Fei Tao, Zi-Yu Wang, Ying Wang, Qian-Ru Lv, Peng-Peng Cai, Hai-Wen Min, Jian-Wei Ge, Chun-Yu Yin, Rui Cheng
Summary: Oxygen therapy plays a vital role in the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), but the effect of hippocampal cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) on BPD-associated neurodevelopment deficits is not fully understood. Inhibition of CDK5 overactivation can improve cognitive deficits, neuronal apoptosis, and synaptic plasticity disorders in BPD mice.
CNS NEUROSCIENCE & THERAPEUTICS
(2023)
Article
Mathematical & Computational Biology
Pierangelo Afferni, Federico Cascino-Milani, Andrea Mattera, Gianluca Baldassarre
Summary: This article introduces a neuro-inspired computational model to explain the mechanism behind the human brain's lifelong learning capability. The model incorporates two key factors - dopamine encoding and homeostatic plasticity mechanism, and shows positive results in experiments.
FRONTIERS IN COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Natalia Babushkina, Denise Manahan-Vaughan
Summary: Patterned stimulation of the locus coeruleus can induce long-term depression (LTD) of synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus, and the effect is frequency-dependent. The locus coeruleus can trigger the release of noradrenaline and dopamine in the hippocampus to induce LTD. The regulation of hippocampal LTD may involve the DA D1/D5 receptors and beta-adrenergic receptors.
Article
Substance Abuse
Natalia A. Quijano Carde, Mariella De Biasi
Summary: In this study, we utilized an intermittent two-bottle choice paradigm (I2BC) to investigate voluntary alcohol consumption in mice. We found that this paradigm resulted in the spontaneous manifestation of withdrawal symptoms, including physical signs and anxiety-like behaviors. Furthermore, we demonstrated that computing a severity score based on a combination of behavioral metrics can be a valuable tool for evaluating the behavioral phenotype of mice.
ALCOHOL-CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Biology
Savannah J. Lusk, Andrew McKinney, Patrick J. Hunt, Paul G. Fahey, Jay Patel, Andersen Chang, Jenny J. Sun, Vena K. Martinez, Ping Jun Zhu, Jeremy R. Egbert, Genevera Allen, Xiaolong Jiang, Benjamin R. Arenkiel, Andreas S. Tolias, Mauro Costa-Mattioli, Russell S. Ray
Summary: The simplified CRISPR toolkit presented here offers a rapid, inexpensive, and convenient method for producing intersectional alleles. These alleles can be easily created for any cell population or subpopulation of interest, allowing for the development of diverse, modifiable animal models. The toolkit, along with the derived intersectional mouse and ES cell lines, is openly available for non-commercial use.
Correction
Neurosciences
Yun-Feng Zhang, Luigim Vargas Cifuentes, Katherine N. Wright, Janardhan P. Bhattarai, Julia Mohrhardt, David Fleck, Emma Janke, Chunjie Jiang, Suna L. Cranfill, Nitsan Goldstein, Mary Schreck, Andrew H. Moberly, Yiqun Yu, Benjamin R. Arenkiel, J. Nicholas Betley, Wenqin Luo, Johannes Stegmaier, Daniel W. Wesson, Marc Spehr, Marc V. Fuccillo, Minghong Ma
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hui Ye, Bing Feng, Chunmei Wang, Kenji Saito, Yongjie Yang, Lucas Ibrahimi, Sarah Schaul, Nirali Patel, Leslie Saenz, Pei Luo, Penghua Lai, Valeria Torres, Maya Kota, Devin Dixit, Xing Cai, Na Qu, Ilirjana Hyseni, Kaifan Yu, Yuwei Jiang, Qingchun Tong, Zheng Sun, Benjamin R. Arenkiel, Yanlin He, Pingwen Xu, Yong Xu
Summary: ERα(vlVMH) neurons activate BAT thermogenesis and physical activity through stimulating 5-HTDRN neurons, thereby regulating body weight.
Article
Neurosciences
Patrick J. Hunt, Mikhail Kochukov, Brandon T. Pekarek, Benjamin D. W. Belfort, Juan M. Romero, Jessica L. Swanson, Benjamin R. Arenkiel
Summary: The lateral septal nucleus (LSN) is an interconnected region of the central brain that plays a crucial role in regulating various brain-wide nuclei, circuits, and behaviors. This study reveals that GABAergic neurons in the LSN express markers for acetylcholine release and release both GABA and acetylcholine onto local glutamatergic LSN neurons. These findings suggest a potential mechanism for neuronal and circuit-wide plasticity in the LSN.
IBRO NEUROSCIENCE REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Julia K. Brynildsen, Kechun Yang, Crystal Lemchi, John A. Dani, Mariella De Biasi, Julie A. Blendy
Summary: The SNP D398N in the CHRNA5 gene has been associated with nicotine and opiate dependence. By using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, mice with the risk-associated allele were generated and it was found that this genotype may enhance opioid reward specifically in females. The response of DA neurons to morphine was altered in Chrna5 A/A mice, and increased opiate reward was observed two weeks after conditioning.
Review
Neurosciences
Jessica L. Swanson, Pey-Shyuan Chin, Juan M. Romero, Snigdha Srivastava, Joshua Ortiz-Guzman, Patrick J. Hunt, Benjamin R. Arenkiel
Summary: Neural circuits and the cells that make them up are essential functional units of the brain. Studying their structure and function is crucial for understanding brain functions. Scientists are using advanced genetic tools to anatomically trace and manipulate neural circuits to gain insight into their functioning.
FRONTIERS IN NEURAL CIRCUITS
(2022)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Guangjin Yong, Qian Jing, Qing Yao, Kechun Yang, Xinhua Ye
Summary: Studies suggest that consuming carbohydrates last during meals can lower postprandial glucose excursions more effectively than consuming carbohydrates first. However, this phenomenon has not been studied in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). This study found that changing meal sequences or increasing the number of meals may reduce glycemic excursions in GDM.
JOURNAL OF DIABETES RESEARCH
(2022)
Editorial Material
Neurosciences
Mariano Soiza-Reilly, Elizabeth Hanson Moss, Benjamin R. Arenkiel
FRONTIERS IN NEURAL CIRCUITS
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Yuanzhong Xu, Zhiying Jiang, Hongli Li, Jing Cai, Yanyan Jiang, Joshua Otiz-Guzman, Yong Xu, Benjamin R. Arenkiel, Qingchun Tong
Summary: The melanocortin pathway plays a critical role in body-weight regulation and is mediated by paraventricular hypothalamic neurons that express melanocortin receptors 4 and project to the ventral part of the lateral septum. Activation of these neurons reduces feeding and causes aversion, while disruption of their function leads to obesity and reduced energy expenditure.
Correction
Cell Biology
Yuanzhong Xu, Zhiying Jiang, Hongli Li, Jing Cai, Yanyan Jiang, Joshua Ortiz-Guzman, Yong Xu, Benjamin R. Arenkiel, Qingchun Tong
Article
Neurosciences
Kechun Yang, Ian McLaughlin, Jessica K. Shaw, Natalia Quijano-Cardre, John A. Dani, Mariella De Biasi
Summary: Nicotine, the active component in tobacco, acts on neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) to cause addiction. The CHRNA5 gene, which encodes the a5 subunit of nAChR, is associated with nicotine use and dependence. Studies on rodents have shown that a5-containing nAChRs in dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) play a significant role in nicotine reward and reinforcement. However, the specific contributions of a5-containing nAChRs to the cellular adaptations associated with long-term nicotine exposure are still unknown. To investigate this, researchers conducted electrophysiological experiments on VTA neurons and found that CHRNA5 mutation led to profound changes in nAChR function during chronic nicotine exposure and withdrawal. The results highlight the importance of VTA a5-nAChRs in the response to nicotine and suggest their involvement in the withdrawal process.
Article
Cell Biology
Jing Cai, Jing Chen, Joshua Ortiz-Guzman, Jessica Huang, Benjamin R. Arenkiel, Yuchen Wang, Yan Zhang, Yuyan Shi, Qingchun Tong, Cheng Zhan
Summary: Contrary to previous belief, eliminating AgRP/NPY neurons in adult mice does not affect normal feeding or body weight homeostasis.
Article
Biology
Jaclyn Beckinghausen, Joshua Ortiz-Guzman, Tao Lin, Benjamin Bachman, Luis E. Salazar E. Leon, Yu Liu, Detlef H. H. Heck, Benjamin R. R. Arenkiel, Roy V. V. Sillitoe
Summary: Single-unit in vivo electrophysiology recordings and pharmacological drug ablation experiments reveal the role of cerebellar inputs to the thalamus in driving seizures. The ventral posteromedial nucleus (VPM) in the thalamus is identified as a source of generalized convulsive seizures. Cerebellar input is found to be critical in seizure initiation.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2023)