Wengang Wang

Striatal activity maintains a short-term action-outcome memory to guide future choice

This study shows that striatal activity encodes short-term action-outcome memories to guide future decisions in mice.

Hunger modulates exploration through suppression of dopamine signaling in the tail of striatum

The paper shows that hunger increases exploration by modulating dopamine signaling in the tail of the striatum via AgRP neurons.

Synaptic sign switching mediates online dopamine updates

The paper shows that synaptic sign switching mediates dopamine updates and contributes to reinforcement learning by altering synaptic signs and weights in EP-LHb synapses.

Striatum supports fast learning but not memory recall

The paper shows that striatal activity is required for trial-to-trial learning improvements but not for memory recall.

Widespread Neuroanatomical Integration and Distinct Electrophysiological Properties of Glioma-Innervating Neurons

This study identifies and maps glioma-innervating neurons (GINs) using rabies virus tracing and reveals their distinct electrophysiological properties and integration into brain networks.

Developmental maturation of frontal cortical circuits impacts decision-making

This study shows that frontal cortical circuits in mice continue to mature beyond sexual maturity, affecting decision-making behaviors with age.

Thyroid hormone rewires cortical circuits to coordinate body-wide metabolism and exploratory drive

This study shows thyroid hormone remodels cortical circuits in adult mice, linking metabolic state to exploratory behavior through transcriptional changes in neurons and glia.

Local and long-distance inputs dynamically regulate striatal acetylcholine during decision making

The paper investigates how dopamine and acetylcholine interact in the striatum during decision making, revealing their dynamic relationship and the role of local and long-range inputs.

Social isolation uncovers a brain-wide circuit underlying context-dependent territory-covering micturition behavior

The paper identifies a brain-wide circuit that modulates micturition behavior based on social and sensory contexts in mice.

Rapid purification and metabolomic profiling of synaptic vesicles from mammalian brain

This paper presents a method to rapidly isolate synaptic vesicles and profile their metabolites, revealing that only glutamate and GABA are detectable polar metabolites in SVs.

Astrocyte-neuron crosstalk through Hedgehog signaling mediates cortical circuit assembly

This study shows that Sonic hedgehog signaling from cortical neurons regulates astrocyte development and synaptic connectivity during cortical circuit formation.

Cortical ChAT+ neurons co-transmit acetylcholine and GABA in a target- and brain-region specific manner

The paper identifies that cortical ChAT+ neurons co-transmit acetylcholine and GABA in a target- and brain-region specific manner, revealing heterogeneity in their function and connectivity.

Transcriptional regulation of MGE progenitor proliferation by PRDM16 controls cortical GABAergic interneuron production

This study shows PRDM16 regulates MGE progenitor proliferation and GABAergic interneuron production by repressing differentiation genes.

Distinct Cortical-Thalamic-Striatal Circuits Through the Parafascicular Nucleus

The paper identifies distinct cortical-thalamic-striatal circuits within the parafascicular nucleus in mice, revealing heterogeneous neurons organized into parallel functional subcircuits.

Target-specific co-transmission of acetylcholine and GABA from a subset of cortical VIP+ interneurons

The paper identifies VIP/ChAT interneurons as a local source of cortical ACh and shows they co-transmit ACh and GABA to specific post-synaptic targets.