Watch a video of Neuroscience 2016 highlights and learn how the meeting brought together neuroscientists from around the globe to share their research discoveries, network with colleagues, and enhance their professional skills.

Fragile X autosomal homolog 1 (FXR1), a member of the fragile X messenger riboprotein 1 family, has been linked to psychiatric disorders including autism and schizophrenia. Parvalbumin (PV) interneurons play critical roles in cortical processing and have been implicated in FXR1-linked mental illnesses. Targeted deletion of FXR1 from PV interneurons in mice has been shown to alter cortical excitability and elicit schizophrenia-like behavior. This indicates that FXR1 regulates behaviorally relevant electrophysiological functions in PV interneurons. We therefore expressed a genetically encoded hybrid voltage sensor in PV interneurons and used voltage imaging in slices of mouse somatosensory cortex to assess the impact of targeted FXR1 deletion. These experiments showed that PV interneurons lacking FXR1 had excitatory synaptic potentials with larger amplitudes and shorter latencies compared with wild type. Synaptic potential rise-times, decay-times, and half-widths were also impacted to degrees that varied bet...

While many concerns about scientific rigor can be dealt with by improving the training of our students and postdocs, we also need to address troubling cultural issues that have resulted in complicated webs of “perverse incentives."

Read science policy and advocacy news from the week of March 30, 2018

According to the U.S. National Report Card, only one out of three middle schoolers scores at or above proficiency in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), and the statistics are even worse for low-income children who attend Title I schools....

Increasing data suggest a crucial relationship between glycolipid metabolic disorder and neuropsychiatric injury. The aim of this study is to investigate the behavioral performance changes and neuropathological injuries in mice challenged with high-fat diet (HFD) and streptozotocin (STZ). The glucose metabolism indicators and behavioral performance were detected. The mRNA expression of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, ocln, zo-1, and clnds and protein expression of APP, p-Tau, p-IRS1, p-AKT, p-ERK, and TREM1/2 were measured. The fluorescence intensities of MAP-2, NeuN, APP, p-Tau, GFAP, and IBA-1 were observed. The results showed that combination of HFD and STZ/I.P. could induce glucose metabolic turmoil and Alzheimer's disease (AD)-like neuropsychiatric dysfunction in mice, as indicated by the increased concentrations of fasting blood glucose and impaired learning and memory ability. Moreover, the model mice presented increased levels of APP, p-Tau, p-IRS1, TREM2, IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, ocln, zo-1, and clnds; decreased l...

Read science policy and advocacy news from the week of March 23, 2018

Adult neurogenesis is a developmental process encompassing the birth of new neurons and their integration into the existing neuronal circuitry. As new neurons begin the process of integration, they pass through a transient period of heightened plasticit...

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) plays a pivotal role in processing pain and emotion, communicating with both cortical and subcortical regions involved in these functions. The claustrum (CLA), a subcortical region with extensive connectivity to the ACC, also plays a critical role in pain perception and consciousness. Both ACC and CLA express Kappa (KOR), Mu (MOR), and Delta (DOR) opioid receptors, yet whether and how opioid receptors modulate this circuit is poorly understood. This study investigates the effects of opioid receptor activation on glutamatergic signaling in CLA-ACC circuitry using spatial transcriptomics, brain slice electrophysiology, optogenetics, and pharmacological approaches in mice of both sexes. Our results demonstrated that excitatory synaptic transmission generated by the CLA onto layer 5 pyramidal cells (L5 PYR) in the ACC are reduced by KOR, MOR, and DOR agonists. However, only KOR agonists reduce monosynaptic transmission from the CLA onto L5 ACC PYR cells, highlighting the uni...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a form of dementia marked by the presence of Aβ-plaques, neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) and cognitive decline. There is increasing evidence that the pathophysiological symptoms of AD may begin decades before cognitive decline...