René Hen

The Converging Effects of Different Categories of Antidepressants on the Brain: A Systematic Meta-Analysis of Public Transcriptional Profiling Data from the Hippocampus and Cortex

This paper performs two meta-analyses of transcriptional data from rodent brain regions to identify shared gene expression changes across antidepressant categories.

Hybrid Solid-Liquid Optics Enable Scalable, High-Resolution, Multi-Immersion Light-Sheet Microscopy

This paper introduces a new optical framework and imaging devices that enable scalable, high-resolution, multi-immersion light-sheet microscopy for biological samples.

Effects of electroconvulsive shock on the function, circuitry, and transcriptome of dentate gyrus granule neurons

This study shows ECS-induced neurogenesis is necessary for antidepressant effects and identifies transcriptomic changes in granule neurons.

Psilocybin induces sex- and context-specific recruitment of the stress axis

This study shows psilocybin activates hypothalamic stress-related neurons, with stronger effects in female mice and context-dependent changes in threat assessment.

Distinct representations of an anxiogenic environment in different cell types of the ventral hippocampus

The paper examines how different cell types in the ventral hippocampus encode anxiety-related information during an anxiety test, finding distinct encoding patterns in granule cells and mossy cells.

Optimal sparsity in autoencoder memory models of the hippocampus

This study investigates how input compressibility affects optimal sparsity in sparse autoencoders, finding that optimal coding levels depend on memory demand and input statistics.

Reactivation of a dormant developmental plasticity program drives synaptic rejuvenation and antidepressant-like responses

This study shows that fluoxetine reactivates a dormant developmental plasticity program in mature neurons, leading to synaptic rejuvenation and antidepressant-like effects.

Ventral CA1 Population Codes for Anxiety

This study identifies population codes in ventral CA1 neurons that represent anxiety-related environmental features and moment-to-moment anxiety states in mice.

Adult born hippocampal granule cells promote pattern separation by bidirectionally modulating the remapping of place and cue cells.

This study investigates how adult born granule cells influence pattern separation by modulating remapping of place and cue cells in the hippocampus.

Parallel processing of sensory cue and spatial information in the Dentate Gyrus

The paper identifies 'cue cells' in the dentate gyrus that encode sensory cues independently of spatial location, alongside traditional 'place cells', revealing a previously overlooked heterogeneity in DG function.

Changes in the functional connectome and behavior after exposure to chronic stress and increasing neurogenesis

This study investigates how increased adult hippocampal neurogenesis affects stress-related behavior and brain network connectivity in mice exposed to chronic stress.

A distributed neural code in the dentate gyrus and CA1

The paper shows that position, direction, and speed in the hippocampus are encoded by overlapping neuronal ensembles in dentate gyrus and CA1, suggesting a distributed neural code rather than single-cell specialization.

A non-linear relation between levels of adult hippocampal neurogenesis and expression of the immature neuron marker doublecortin

The paper shows that doublecortin (DCX) expression does not linearly correlate with adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) in various models, highlighting the need for caution in using DCX as a proxy for AHN.

Functional interrogation of a depression-related serotonergic SNP, rs6295, using a humanized mouse model

This study investigates the effects of the depression-related SNP rs6295 on 5-HT1A receptor levels and behavior using humanized mouse models.

Optogenetic silencing of immature and mature neurons in dentate gyrus to assess their roles in memory discriminations

This study uses optogenetic silencing to show that both mature and immature neurons in the dentate gyrus contribute to memory discrimination, with distinct effects based on prior experience.