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By recording from the Drosophila mushroom body during active odor navigation, Zolin et al. reveal that dopaminergic reinforcement pathways encode rewards and goal-directed actions through similar patterns of neural activity and dopamine release.
By developing a long-term ALS/FTD patient-specific iPSC-derived organoid model that recapitulates mature cortical cell types, the authors pinpoint early selective molecular pathologies at single-cell resolution and a druggable neuronal vulnerability.
A novel study led by scientists in Lübeck, Germany, shows that SARS-CoV-2-infected brain endothelial cells undergo cell death due to the cleavage of NEMO by the viral protease Mpro, potentially causing cerebral COVID-19 and ‘long COVID’ symptoms.
Markovic et al. demonstrate in rodents that anhedonia-like states in inflammatory pain are mediated through increased inhibitory control and subsequent diminished activity of mesolimbic dopamine neurons.
Zhang et al. report that the BLA contains ‘hardwired’ positive-valence and negative-valence neurons, which each express Fezf2 but have distinct connectivity. These neurons separately drive learning and expression of avoidance or approach behavior.
Grosmark et al. use simultaneous calcium imaging and electrophysiology to track the formation and long-term evolution of hippocampal memory traces in mice and uncover a role for post-learning reactivation in the formation of spatially uniform cognitive maps.
The authors generated a cell census of mouse nucleus accumbens using single-cell RNA sequencing and multiplexed error-robust FISH. These data suggest that transcriptional and spatial diversity of neuron subtypes underlies nucleus accumbens anatomic and functional heterogeneity.
By manipulating the rhythmicity of neural activity in entorhinal cortex and hippocampus, Quirk et al. show that memory is impaired by aberrant oscillatory activity during the encoding phase, but not during retention or retrieval phases.
Goltstein et al. investigate the role of mouse visual cortical areas in information-integration category learning. They report widespread changes in neuronal response properties, most prominently in a higher visual area, the postrhinal cortex.
Cognitive maps are theorized to enable generalizing experiences in new situations. Park et al. show that non-spatial experiences sampled piecemeal are integrated into a two-dimensional cognitive map of social hierarchy, and a grid code is used for novel inferences.
This paper identified >500 genetic loci associated with behaviors and disorders related to self-regulation, including addiction and child behavior problems. The resulting genetic risk scores predict several behavioral, medical and social outcomes.
This paper explores neural network and cellular complexity within human cortical and subcortical fusion organoids. The platform is used to model network dysfunction associated with Rett syndrome and to identify new therapeutic candidates.
Using single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics, Hasel et al. uncover complex reactive astrocyte subtypes that occupy distinct areas of the brain. They find two super-responders expressing unique genes in strategic locations in the brain.
Ma et al. show that the PVT biases the selection of passive and active defensive behaviors via mostly segregated projections to the CeA and the NAc. Their results update current views on the role of the midline thalamus in fear-related behaviors.
Kim et al. found that visual inputs trigger gated feedforward inhibition of ACC neurons, which disinhibits striatal motor neurons and initiates precise responses in mice performing a visual Go/No-go task.
Using a human forebrain organoid model of fragile X syndrome, Kang et al. reveal a critical role of FMRP in human brain development and identify a large number of human-specific mRNAs that could be regulated by FMRP.
Placental dysfunction has been implicated in abnormal neurodevelopment. Vacher et al. found that loss of a neuroactive hormone from the placenta alters brain development in a regional and sex-linked manner, resulting in autism-like behaviors in male offspring.
Al-Hasani, Gowrishankar et al. show that long-range GABAergic projections from the ventral tegmental area to the ventral nucleus accumbens shell inhibit cholinergic activity to promote reward reinforcement.
Grieves et al. show that when rats explore a 3D space, grid cells in the entorhinal cortex exchange their usual spatially regular firing patterns for more irregular ones, suggesting that 3D space is mapped differently than previously thought.