All SfN-Sponsored Socials will be held at Westin Downtown D.C. (formerly the Renaissance Downtown D.C.). These events are open to all registered annual meeting attendees.

Fluorescence microscopy enables researchers to observe biological targets within both cultured cells and animal tissue specimens. Its utility is generally limited to cultured cell monolayers and 5-10 micron (μm) thick sections, as thicker samples begin ...

The consequences of aging can vary dramatically between different brain regions and cell types. In the ventral midbrain, dopaminergic neurons develop physiological deficits with normal aging that likely convey susceptibility to neurodegeneration. While nearby GABAergic neurons are thought to be more resilient, decreased GABA signaling in other areas nonetheless correlates with age-related cognitive decline and the development of degenerative diseases. Here, we used two novel cell type-specific Translating Ribosome Affinity Purification models to elucidate the impact of healthy brain aging on the molecular profiles of dopamine and GABA neurons in the ventral midbrain. By analyzing differential gene expression from young adult (7-10 month) and old (21-24 month) mice, we detected commonalities in the aging process in both neuronal types, including increased inflammatory responses and upregulation of pro-survival pathways. Both cell types also showed downregulation of genes involved in synaptic connectivity an...

We have documented the early embryonic development of hypothalamic neurons expressing β-endorphin (β-End), α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (αMSH), neuropeptide Y (NPY) and kisspeptin (Kiss1) in Rhesus macaques, an animal model that is very similar to humans. Neurons expressing both β-End and αMSH are the first to develop and are initially located in the lateral basal hypothalamus (LBH) as early as day 32-34 of gestation. By day 45 of gestation, these neurons have migrated into the medial basal hypothalamic (MBH) area as their final destination. NPY neurons within the ARH develop later and are first documented at day 44 of fetal life, at which time a cluster of neurons are present within ARH-MBH area. NPY neurons continued to be expressed within the ARH area at all later fetal ages analyzed. Similarly, kisspeptin neurons develop later compared to β-End, although, only a few cells are present in the ARH by day 44 of gestation, at which time kisspeptin is also expressed in the developing anterior lobe of the...

The Senate Appropriations Committee has released all 12 of their FY2023 spending bills including the Labor-HHS-Education bill overseeing the NIH. The bill provides $47.95 billion for the NIH, an increase of $2 billion for all ICs over FY2022, as well as $1 billion appropriated for ARPA-H. The Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research issued a statement thanking the Committee for the increase to NIH in FY2023. Additionally, the bill provides $700 million for the BRAIN Initiative, an increase of $80 million over FY2022. The Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill provides $10.34 billion for the NSF, a historic increase of $1.5 billion over FY2022 as well as the Military Construction and VA spending bill providing $916 million for the VA Medical and Prosthetic Research Program, an increase of $34 million over FY2022. Neither chamber is expected to take additional action on their FY2023 spending bills until after Members return from recess in September, when lawmakers likely will need to pass a continuing resolution be...

The Senate Appropriations Committee has released all 12 of their FY2023 spending bills including the Labor-HHS-Education bill overseeing the NIH. The bill provides $47.95 billion for the NIH, an increase of $2 billion for all ICs over FY2022, as well as $1 billion appropriated for ARPA-H. The Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research issued a statement thanking the Committee for the increase to NIH in FY2023. Additionally, the bill provides $700 million for the BRAIN Initiative, an increase of $80 million over FY2022. The Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill provides $10.34 billion for the NSF, a historic increase of $1.5 billion over FY2022 as well as the Military Construction and VA spending bill providing $916 million for the VA Medical and Prosthetic Research Program, an increase of $34 million over FY2022. Neither chamber is expected to take additional action on their FY2023 spending bills until after Members return from recess in September, when lawmakers likely will need to pass a continuing resolution be...

My Neuroscience MarketPlace may be purchased starting February 13.

My Neuroscience MarketPlace may be purchased starting May 2.

The relationships between facial expression and color affect human cognition functions such as perception and memory. However, whether these relationships influence selective attention and brain activity contributed to selective attention remains unclear. For example, reddish angry faces increase emotion intensity, but it is unclear whether brain activity and selective attention are similarly enhanced. To investigate these questions, we examined whether event-related potentials for faces vary depending on facial expression and color by recording electroencephalography (EEG) data. We conducted an oddball task using stimuli that combined facial expressions (angry, neutral) and facial colors (original, red, green). The participants counted the number of times a rarely appearing target face stimulus appeared among the standard face stimuli. The results indicated that the difference in P3 amplitudes for the target and standard faces depended on the combinations of facial expressions and facial colors; the P3 fo...

Neural circuits that consolidate sensory cues are essential for neurological functioning. Neural circuits that perform sensory integration can vary greatly because the sensory processing regions of the brain employ various neural motifs. Here, we investigate a neural circuit that mediates the response to conflicting stimuli in Caenorhabditis elegans . We concurrently expose animals to an aversive dispersal pheromone, osas#9, and an attractive bacterial extract. While worms usually avoid osas#9 alone, they suppress this avoidance behavior in the presence of a bacterial extract. Loss-of-function mutants and cell-specific rescues reveal that signaling from the ADF and NSM neurons is essential for bacterial extract-induced osas#9 avoidance attenuation. The inhibitory serotonin receptor, MOD-1, which is widely expressed on interneurons and motor neurons, is required for this sensory integration, suggesting that serotonin acts in an inhibitory manner. By performing calcium imaging on the ADF neurons in synaptic ...