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Simple decisions arise from the evaluation of sensory evidence. But decisions are determined by more than just evidence. Individuals establish internal decision criteria that influence how they respond. Where or how decision criteria are established in the brain remains poorly understood. Here, we show that neuronal activity in the superior colliculus (SC) predicts changes in decision criteria. Using...
α-Synuclein resides in Lewy bodies in Parkinson’s disease. Ordonez et al. (2017) now show that α-syn disrupts the actin network, causing Drp1-dependent mitochondrial fission defects. This is similar to defects induced by the PD risk factor Tau, suggesting converging pathways in neurodegeneration.
Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) combine direct photosensitivity through melanopsin with synaptically mediated drive from classical photoreceptors through bipolar-cell input. Here, we sought to provide a fuller description of the least understood ipRGC type, the M5 cell, and discovered a distinctive functional characteristic—chromatic opponency (ultraviolet excitatory,...
The coupled interaction between slow-wave oscillations and sleep spindles during non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep has been proposed to support memory consolidation. However, little evidence in humans supports this theory. Moreover, whether such dynamic coupling is impaired as a consequence of brain aging in later life, contributing to cognitive and memory decline, is unknown. Combining electroencephalography...
Many animals, ranging from vinegar flies to humans, discriminate a wide range of tastants, including sugars, bitter compounds, NaCl, and sour. However, the taste of Ca2+ is poorly understood, and it is unclear whether animals such as Drosophila melanogaster are endowed with this sense. Here, we examined Ca2+ taste in Drosophila and showed that high levels of Ca2+ are aversive. The repulsion was mediated...
Turtle dorsal cortex (dCx), a three-layered cortical area of the reptilian telencephalon, receives inputs from the retina via the thalamic lateral geniculate nucleus and constitutes the first cortical stage of visual processing. The receptive fields of dCx neurons usually occupy the entire contralateral visual field. Electrophysiological recordings in awake and anesthetized animals reveal that dCx...
Human lateral PPC demonstrates rich, functional heterogeneity across its subregions, including during mnemonic and numerical decision tasks. In this issue of Neuron, Rutishauser et al. (2018) report striking local heterogeneity within a small patch of anterior IPS at the neuronal level during memory-based decisions.
Infections have been identified as possible risk factors for aging-related neurodegenerative diseases, but it remains unclear whether infection-related immune molecules have a causative role in neurodegeneration during aging. Here, we reveal an unexpected role of an epidermally expressed antimicrobial peptide, NLP-29 (neuropeptide-like protein 29), in triggering aging-associated dendrite degeneration...
Macroscopic cortical networks are important for cognitive function, but it remains challenging to construct anatomically plausible individual structural connectomes from human neuroimaging. We introduce a new technique for cortical network mapping based on inter-regional similarity of multiple morphometric parameters measured using multimodal MRI. In three cohorts (two human, one macaque), we find...
The neural circuits underlying learning and execution of goal-directed behaviors remain to be determined. Here, through electrophysiological recordings, we investigated fast sensory processing across multiple cortical areas as mice learned to lick a reward spout in response to a brief deflection of a single whisker. Sensory-evoked signals were absent from medial prefrontal cortex and dorsal hippocampus...
The development of advanced neuroimaging techniques and their deployment in large cohorts has enabled an assessment of functional and structural brain network architecture at an unprecedented level of detail. Across many temporal and spatial scales, network neuroscience has emerged as a central focus of intellectual efforts, seeking meaningful descriptions of brain networks and explanatory sets of...
How the brain maps sensory information to adaptive behavior remains unresolved. A new study in this issue of Neuron (Le Merre et al., 2017) uncovers learning-related recruitment of higher cortical areas into the rapid sensory processing stream that links a whisker stimulus to rewarded action.
The human posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is thought to contribute to memory retrieval, but little is known about its specific role. We recorded single PPC neurons of two human tetraplegic subjects implanted with microelectrode arrays, who performed a recognition memory task. We found two groups of neurons that signaled memory-based choices. Memory-selective neurons preferred either novel or familiar...
In an elegant synthesis of behavior, modeling, and neurophysiology, Crapse et al. (2018) show that neurons of the superior colliculus influence choice behavior by encoding choice criterion, a quantitative measure of decision bias integral to signal detection theory.
Genetics and neuropathology strongly link α-synuclein aggregation and neurotoxicity to the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease and related α-synucleinopathies. Here we describe a new Drosophila model of α-synucleinopathy based on widespread expression of wild-type human α-synuclein, which shows robust neurodegeneration, early-onset locomotor deficits, and abundant α-synuclein aggregation. We use results...
Synapses are the fundamental units of information processing in the mammalian brain. Much of our understanding of their functional properties comes from voltage-clamp analysis, the predominant approach for investigating synaptic physiology. Here, we reveal that voltage clamp is completely ineffective for most excitatory synapses due to spine electrical compartmentalization. Under local dendritic voltage...
In this issue of Neuron, Helfrich et al. (2017) demonstrate that phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) between slow oscillations and spindles is crucial for memory consolidation, and shifts in its phase relationship may explain age-related deficits in memory performance. These results also suggest a more general function of PAC in synaptic plasticity.
Ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) mediate neurotransmission at the majority of excitatory synapses in the brain. Little is known, however, about how glutamate reaches the recessed binding pocket in iGluR ligand-binding domains (LBDs). Here we report the process of glutamate binding to a prototypical iGluR, GluA2, in atomistic detail using unbiased molecular simulations. Charged residues on the...
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