Sacha B. Nelson

Multiplexed CRISPRi Reveals a Transcriptional Switch Between KLF Activators and Repressors in the Maturing Neocortex

The paper identifies a transcriptional switch in KLF activators and repressors during postnatal neuronal maturation using CRISPRi and integrates chromatin and gene expression data.

Prolonged activity-deprivation causes pre- and postsynaptic compensatory plasticity at neocortical excitatory synapses

The paper investigates how prolonged activity deprivation in mouse cortical slices affects synaptic and cellular properties, finding increased synaptic strength and reduced synaptic density.

Progressive circuit hyperexcitability in mouse neocortical slice cultures with increasing duration of activity silencing

This study investigates how prolonged activity silencing in mouse neocortical slice cultures affects rebound activity and synaptic balance, finding age-dependent synapse loss and excitability shifts.

A transcriptional constraint mechanism limits the homeostatic response to activity deprivation in mammalian neocortex

The paper shows that PARbZIP transcription factors constrain homeostatic plasticity in the mammalian neocortex, preventing excessive responses to activity deprivation.

Loss of Stk11 in basolateral amygdalar projection neurons impairs taste aversion learning by altering the temporal pattern of taste response plasticity in gustatory cortex

This study shows that Stk11 knockout in BLA projection neurons disrupts taste aversion learning by altering the timing of taste response plasticity in gustatory cortex, not by eliminating plasticity itself.

Cortical RORβ is required for layer 4 transcriptional identity and barrel integrity.

This study shows RORβ is essential for layer 4 transcriptional identity and barrel structure in the cortex, with loss of RORβ disrupting gene expression, chromatin accessibility, and thalamocortical afferent organization.

Deletion of Stk11 and Fos in BLA projection neurons alters their intrinsic excitability and impairs formation of long-term aversive memory

Single and population coding of taste in the gustatory cortex of awake mice

The paper records spiking activity in mouse gustatory cortex during taste stimulation, finding temporal coding of taste identity and palatability and no anatomical taste specialization.

The role of the gustatory cortex in incidental experience-evoked enhancement of later taste learning

The paper investigates how incidental taste experience enhances later taste learning by identifying the gustatory cortex as a key neural site involved in this process.

A single spectrum of neuronal identities across thalamus

The paper constructs a transcriptomic atlas of the thalamus, revealing a single spectrum of neuronal identities that serve as molecularly-defined filters for cortical modalities.

The Transcriptional Logic of Mammalian Neuronal Diversity

The paper identifies homeobox transcription factors as key drivers of neuronal diversity through improved expression metrics and links long genes to regulatory elements and mobile elements.