Research articles

The authors use a mouse model of rapid-onset dystonia-Parkinsonism to show that an adverse interaction between the cerebellum and basal ganglia can account for the symptoms in this condition. Aberrant cerebellar activity alters basal ganglia function via a di-synaptic thalamic pathway, causing dystonia.

Disruption of the hippocampus influences both spatial reference and working memory. By selectively blocking parvalbumin-positive interneuron signaling, the authors find that this class of neurons contributes to spatial working memory, but not to reference memory.

Lafourcade et al. find that a lifelong insufficiency in dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids leads to a specific loss of long-term synaptic depression mediated by endocannabinoids in the prelimbic prefrontal cortex and accumbens in mice. This was associated with impaired emotional behavior.

Reinforcement signals indicating success or failure are known to alter the probability of selecting between distinct actions. Here the authors examine the structure of learning at a millisecond timescale, suggesting that reinforcement can also guide learning of continuous action trajectories.

Acetylcholine (Ach) and agrin are opposing signals that regulate NMJ development. The authors report that the intermediate filament protein nestin interacts with Cdk5 and is required for Ach-induced p35 association with the muscle membrane. Blocking this signaling inhibits Ach-induced AchR cluster dispersion during NMJ development.

Here the authors describe a set of new optogenetic tools for use in primates that are meant to address the unique constraints of working with this species. They characterize opsin expression, the reliability of optogenetic stimulation and its effect on behavior, and methods for determining localization and expression levels prior to the completion of experiments.

Previous work suggests that protein kinase M zeta (PKMζ) is required for long-term memory maintenance. Here, the authors find that, under some conditions, PKMζ inhibition does not erase memory, but only temporarily disrupts the expression of memory.

Memory reactivation underlying consolidation can occur during periods of sleep or in waking where wakeful memory reactivation is susceptible to disruption. Contrary to prior predictions, the authors find that memory reactivation during slow-wave sleep immediately stabilizes memories in the absence of REM sleep.

The authors report that the rate at which calmodulin binds calcium is faster than that of other calcium binding proteins, and that calmodulin directly intercepts incoming calcium and sets [Ca²⁺]_free rather than responding to the lower [Ca²⁺]_free set by other buffers.

Szuts et al. have developed a wireless neural recording system that outperforms existing rodent telemetry systems in either channel count, weight or transmission range. They show that it can be used to record brain signals in animals outdoors and in tunnels.

Ephaptic coupling is the feedback of extracellular fields onto the electrical potential across the neuronal membrane, independent of synapses. Here, the authors report that, under physiological conditions, endogenous brain activity can affect neural function through field effects.

Combining positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging, the authors investigate the effects of emotionally arousing music on the dopamine system. They find that the anticipation of this abstract reward can result in dopamine release in an anatomical pathway that is distinct from that associated with the peak pleasure itself.

Using genetics and pharmacology, the authors find that the dynamics of olfactory receptor neurons can be separated into two sequential steps: transduction and spike generation. They then characterize these two components.

Here the authors demonstrate that the orientation preference of a cortical column is closely related to the population receptive field of the ON and OFF thalamic inputs. These results support models suggesting that orientation maps develop on the basis of the receptive field arrangement of ON and OFF visual inputs to the cortex.

Graf et al. examine how information can be decoded from the pattern of population activity in primary visual cortex neurons. They find that the structure of neuronal response distributions, including their correlated variability, contains critical information for sensory decoding.

Aponte et al. show that optogenetic activation of a population of hypothalamic neurons expressing agouti-related peptide (AGRP) is sufficient to evoke voracious feeding behavior in mice. This feeding was not dependent on suppressing the activity of anorexigenic pro-opiomelanocortin–expressing neurons, suggesting that AGRP neurons directly engage feeding circuits.