Updated March 26, 2024
Research Spotlight
Oka and colleagues investigated the diurnal variation of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) activity in humans using magnetic resonance imaging techniques. The authors found that the human SCN activity was higher at noon and lower at night and morning. They further found that the human SCN activity was compatible with the rodent SCN activity modulated by physical lights rather than the local time. These findings contribute to our understanding of circadian rhythms in humans.
Deviance Detection to Natural Stimuli in Population Responses of the Brainstem of Bats
Auditory deviance detection is the ability of the brain to detect unexpected cues in a repetitive auditory environment. In the past, multiple studies could show that the brain can detect very complex auditory deviations, but those findings were restricted to high-level brain areas like the cortex. In their new study, using bats as their model organism, Wetekam and colleagues demonstrate that complex forms of auditory deviance detection are present already in the brainstem. The authors suggest that these complex forms of low-level deviance detection allow the animals to quickly separate different signals within the stream of auditory input and to save processing resources very early in the brain.
Most-Discussed Research Published in February
Below are five Early Release articles that generated the most online discussion in February 2024, as measured by Altmetric. Altmetric data is available for all articles published in JNeurosci on the Info & Metrics tab. Learn more about how the Altmetric score is calculated.
Inferring the intentions from behavior is crucial for adaptive social functioning. A predisposition toward interpreting intentions as hostile is a significant predictor of interpersonal conflict and aggressive tendencies. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, we found that individual differences in hostile attribution bias shaped neural synchrony in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex while processing real-world social situations. Additionally, we were able to distinguish between participants with high and low hostile attribution bias from their neural activity. These results reveal how subjective interpretations of social situations are influenced by hostile attribution bias and reflected in the temporal dynamics of brain activity. Our findings lay the groundwork for future studies aimed at understanding the neurobiological basis of sociocognitive biases and interventions that mitigate these biases.
Heterozygous pathogenic variants in STXBP1 are in the top five causes of pediatric epilepsies and one of the most frequent causes of neurodevelopmental disorders. They affect presynaptic neurotransmitter release and a broad spectrum of neurological features common among neurodevelopmental disorders, but the disease pathogenesis and cell types subserving these phenotypes remain unclear. Here we report the distinct roles of GABAergic/glycinergic and glutamatergic neurons in the pathogenesis of STXBP1 encephalopathy. These results will aid the development of therapeutic interventions by suggesting the potential outcomes of therapeutic strategies that target different neuronal types for treating STXBP1 encephalopathy.
Recent studies have shown that when rats are given a mutually exclusive choice between social interaction with a same-sex peer and opioid or psychostimulant drugs, they choose social interaction. In the present study, we examined if the peer-sex influences operant social interaction and the role of the estrous cycle and striatal dopamine in same- vs. opposite-sex social interaction. Responding was higher for the opposite-sex peer in male but not female rats, and estrous cycle had no effect on operant social interaction of either sex. Same-sex vs. opposite-sex operant social interaction was associated with different dopamine responses in NAc core and DMS. Our study shows that peer-sex influences operant responding for social interaction and associated neuronal responses.
Control over internal representations requires the prioritization of relevant information and suppression of irrelevant information. We targeted theta-frequency frontal-parietal coherence and lateralized alpha oscillations in posterior parietal cortex using online rhythmic transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in human participants while they prioritized or suppressed internally maintained working memory (WM) representations. For suppression, alpha-TMS to posterior parietal cortex increased the amplitude of lateralized alpha oscillations contralateral to the irrelevant visual field. For prioritization, theta-TMS to prefrontal cortex increased theta-frequency connectivity in the prefrontal-parietal network contralateral to the relevant visual field. In a separate dataset of patients with implanted electrodes, we demonstrate anatomical specificity in that theta connectivity was directed from lateral prefrontal to posterior parietal cortex.
DNA G-quadruplex is a transcriptional control device that regulates memory.
For decades, many scientists have considered the topic of DNA structure to be solved, with the double-helix of DNA existing in one stable form. However, this is not the complete story; DNA structure has a variety of states that are functional. For example, G-quadruplex DNA (G4-DNA) is a structure that is associated with DNA damage and functional impairment. While there is abundant evidence demonstrating the involvement of G4-DNA in stalling replication or transcription, our work is the first causal evidence that G4-DNA is required for both neuronal transcription and the expression of different memory states.
Stay updated on the latest research: Sign up and manage your Alerts to receive email alerts of table of contents, searching, and article citation alerts for both issues and Early Release.