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Volume 15 Issue 3, March 2012

Applying cell type–specific optical and pharmacogenetic techniques to the mouse hippocampus in vitro, Lovett-Barron and colleagues show that dendritic inhibition of CA1 pyramidal cells regulates the transformation of synaptic input into action potential output by gating local dendritic electrogenesis. The cover depicts the CA1 region of the dorsal hippocampus, with the sources of synaptic excitation (CA3 Schaffer Collateral axons; green) and inhibition (local GABAergic interneurons; red) to CA1 pyramidal cells.346423

Editorial

  • Nature Neuroscience announces changes to its supplementary information guidelines and expands the space allowed for methods.

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News & Views

  • How do we make decisions? A study uses MEG to provide the spatial as well as the temporal resolution needed to answer this question, together with computational modeling, which allows for complex non-linear decision models. This work helps resolve some of the seemingly contradictory results from previous work.

    • John Pearson
    • Michael L Platt
    News & Views
  • A single amino acid residue determines single-channel conductance, ion permeation and channel block in the NMDA receptor, three of the key features of this ligand-gated ion channel.

    • David J A Wyllie
    • Stephen F Traynelis
    News & Views
  • The primary cilium, a signal transduction organelle, is present on the cell bodies of adult-born dentate gyrus granule cells as they begin maturation. In its absence, their maturation and integration are impaired.

    • Fadel Tissir
    • Andre M Goffinet
    News & Views
  • A synthesis of opto- and pharmacogenetics is beginning to reveal how various interneuron types direct incoming traffic in the hippocampus to help create a map of the environment.

    • Iris Oren
    • Dimitri M Kullmann
    News & Views
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Review Article

  • Here the authors review evidence suggesting that cocaine-induced changes in orbitofrontal cortex disrupt the representation of states and transition functions that form the basis of flexible behavioral control, resulting in reliance on less flexible control systems and consequently in the pattern of maladaptive behaviors associated with cocaine addiction.

    • Federica Lucantonio
    • Thomas A Stalnaker
    • Geoffrey Schoenbaum
    Review Article
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Brief Communication

  • Cortical states regulate behavior, but the network mechanisms underlying cortical states are unknown. Here the authors show that the desynchronized cortical state that occurs during active behavior is driven by an increase in thalamic firing independent of sensory input, which can be mimicked by optogenetic stimulation of the thalamus.

    • James F A Poulet
    • Laura M J Fernandez
    • Carl C H Petersen
    Brief Communication
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Article

  • Slit and NTRK-like family member (Slitrk) proteins are known to have typical peptide signatures for synaptogenic cell adhesion. This study reveals a specific function of Slitrk3 and tyrosine phosphatase receptor PTPδ transynaptic interaction in inhibitory synaptogenesis and excitatory and inhibitory balance.

    • Hideto Takahashi
    • Kei-ichi Katayama
    • Ann Marie Craig
    Article
  • The authors report that a developmental increase in the 4-sulfation/6-sulfation ratio of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans modulates the maturity of parvalbumin-expressing interneurons and leads to the termination of the critical period for ocular dominance plasticity in the mouse visual cortex.

    • Shinji Miyata
    • Yukio Komatsu
    • Hiroshi Kitagawa
    Article
  • The authors use optical activation and cell type–specific pharmacogenetic silencing in vitro to show that dendritic inhibition critically regulates input-output transformations in mouse hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells. Dendrite-targeting interneurons are themselves modulated by interneurons targeting pyramidal cell somata.

    • Matthew Lovett-Barron
    • Gergely F Turi
    • Attila Losonczy
    Article
  • This study uses computational modeling of the interaction between two optic-flow processing neurons (Vi and H1) in the fly to examine the effect of synaptic coupling on stimulus processing. Analysis by a generative model shows that coupling enhances encoding of optic-flow in Vi such that the information per spike is maximized.

    • Franz Weber
    • Christian K. Machens
    • Alexander Borst
    Article
  • Recording in the rat primary visual cortex, this study finds that after repeated exposure to a light spot moving along the same path, just seeing the static spot at its start position is sufficient to cause the sequence of activity associated with the movements of the spot along its path. This activity may contribute to cue-triggered recall of learned sequences.

    • Shengjin Xu
    • Wanchen Jiang
    • Yang Dan
    Article
  • Using direct recordings in monkeys, the authors find that theta-band synchronization between V4 and prefrontal cortex is likely to be important for the maintenance of short-term visual memory. These synchronizations provide a means for distant cortical areas to communicate with each other during the performance of a cognitive task.

    • Stefanie Liebe
    • Gregor M Hoerzer
    • Gregor Rainer
    Article
  • This study demonstrates that visual crowding (the inability to identify objects in clutter) develops as a result of interactions between peripheral attention and saccade-induced image displacements. The authors suggest that this offers a much more generalized explanation for the phenomenon of visual crowding.

    • Anirvan S Nandy
    • Bosco S Tjan
    Article
  • This study uses a combination of computational modeling and magnetoencephalography to track activity while people make decisions, and finds that prefrontal and parietal cortex activity is consistent with mutual inhibition between competing options during decision-making. This activity is likely to represent a mechanism for the comparison of values while making choices.

    • Laurence T Hunt
    • Nils Kolling
    • Timothy E J Behrens
    Article
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Technical Report

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Resource

  • Using several lines of retinal cell type–specific GENSET BAC transgenic GFP mice, the authors segregated these retinal cell types then subjected them to transcriptome microarray analysis to provide a transcriptional 'barcode' of retinal cell identity.

    • Sandra Siegert
    • Erik Cabuy
    • Botond Roska
    Resource
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