Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

Synaptotagmin isoforms differentially regulate glutamate and GABA release in the lateral habenula

This study identifies Synaptotagmin-2 and Synaptotagmin-3 as distinct calcium sensors for glutamatergic and GABAergic release in lateral habenula neurons.

Branch-specific plasticity explains distal enrichment of retinotopically displaced inputs in visual cortex

The paper develops a model of compartment-specific spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) that explains the enrichment of retinotopically displaced inputs on distal dendrites in visual cortex.

Axonal ensembles repeatedly cluster and order synapses along dendrites in mouse cortex

The paper identifies axon groups that repeatedly cluster synapses onto dendritic branches of multiple pyramidal cells in mouse visual cortex, revealing consistent spatial arrangements.

Perineuronal nets reflect a continuum of fast-spiking specialization in adult parvalbumin interneurons

The paper identifies a transcriptional continuum in parvalbumin interneurons based on perineuronal net status, linking it to fast-spiking specialization and plasticity.

2P-NucTag: on-demand phototagging for molecular analysis of functionally identified cortical neurons

The paper introduces 2P-NucTag, a method to label and profile functionally distinct neurons in vivo, revealing gene expression differences between place and silent hippocampal pyramidal neurons.

The atypical adhesion GPCR ADGRA1 controls hippocampal inhibitory circuit function

This study identifies ADGRA1 as essential for hippocampal inhibitory synaptic function in PV and SST interneurons, showing its role in synaptic inputs and learning/memory.

Postnatal development of pyramidal neurons excitability and synaptic inputs in mouse gustatory cortical circuits

The paper examines postnatal maturation of pyramidal neurons in the gustatory cortex, finding dynamic changes in excitability and an increasing inhibitory drive mediated by parvalbumin neurons.

Distribution, assembly and mechanism of GluN1/GluN3A excitatory glycine receptors

The paper characterizes GluN3A-containing NMDARs as glycine-only excitatory glycine receptors, revealing their distribution, assembly, and unique gating mechanism.

Alcohol impacts an fMRI marker of neural inhibition in humans and rodents.

This study examines how acute alcohol consumption affects neural inhibition in both rats and humans using the Hurst exponent as an fMRI marker, finding reduced inhibition in both species.

Short-term plasticity at retinogeniculate synapses depends on synaptic strength

The paper investigates how synaptic strength and short-term plasticity interact at retinogeniculate synapses in mice, finding an inverse relationship where strong synapses depress and weak ones facilitate.

Anterior cingulate cortex activation of claustrum projection neuron subtypes is enhanced by alcohol

This study investigates how chronic alcohol exposure affects the responsiveness of claustrum projection neuron subtypes to anterior cingulate cortex input in mice.

Robust PHP in Adult Hippocampus: Essential Assay Optimizations

The paper describes optimized experimental assays for studying presynaptic homeostatic plasticity (PHP) in adult mammalian brain tissue, highlighting improvements in cell and tissue health and benchmarking criteria for PHP analysis.

Conservation of neuron-astrocyte coordinated activity among sensory processing centers of the developing brain

The paper shows that retinal ganglion cell activity induces correlated astrocyte calcium waves in the superior colliculus, dependent on mGluR5 and mGluR3, suggesting a conserved mechanism across sensory systems.

Extracellular space diffusion modelling identifies distinct functional advantages of archetypical glutamatergic and GABAergic synapse geometries

The paper models diffusion in the brain's extracellular space to show how synapse geometries affect signaling, revealing functional advantages of glutamatergic and GABAergic synapse shapes.

Are Synaptic Clefts Directionally Oriented?

The paper analyzes synaptic cleft orientations in human and mouse brain data, finding directional biases that suggest mesoscale anisotropy in cortical layers.

A cerebellar cognitive rheostat bidirectionally controls attention

This study identifies a cerebellar circuit that bidirectionally controls attention by suppressing sensorimotor noise and amplifying cognitive signals, with implications for ADHD.

Astrocytic Encoding of Threat in the Basolateral Amygdala

The paper shows that astrocytes in the basolateral amygdala encode threat-induced anxiety across tasks, contrasting with neurons that encode broader behavioral states.

An unexpected specialization of the active zone scaffold RIM at high release synapses

The paper shows RIM is not universally required for neurotransmission but acts as a specialized factor enhancing high-release synapses.

A calcium imaging pipeline to detect and quantify compound-specific effects in human and mouse astrocytes and astrocyte-neuron cocultures

The paper develops a calcium imaging pipeline to assess compound effects on astrocyte activity in human and mouse cultures, finding differential responses to drugs and disease models.

A comprehensive CRISPR screen of the Drosophila glutamate receptome reveals Ekar as a selective regulator of presynaptic homeostatic plasticity

The paper performs a CRISPR screen in Drosophila to identify genes involved in presynaptic homeostatic plasticity, finding Ekar as a critical regulator.

Neuronal ARHGAP8 controls synapse structure and AMPA receptor-mediated synaptic transmission

This study identifies ARHGAP8 as a novel synaptic protein involved in excitatory synapse morphology and function, with implications for neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders.

Transcriptional and functional profiles of muscarinic receptor-expressing neurons in primate lateral prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices

The paper identifies muscarinic receptor subtypes in primate prefrontal and cingulate cortices, revealing regional differences in receptor expression and functional properties.

Neurospheres from primary rodent brain cells to probe the 3D organization and function of synapses

This paper introduces a 3D neurosphere model from rodent brain cells to study synapse structure and function using advanced imaging and electrophysiology.

Heterogeneous and specific localization of mRNAs at dendritic spine and its dependence on microtubule entry

The paper investigates mRNA localization at dendritic spines and finds that specific mRNAs target different subdomains and require microtubule entry and the motor KIF5A.

Multi-timescale Computation by Astrocytes

This paper shows that astrocytes process neuromodulatory inputs into distinct temporal signals that modulate synaptic pathways and learning, with dynamics similar to neural network critic mechanisms.

A systematic cross-modal approach identifies astrocytic VCAM1 as a regulator of hippocampal synapse development

The paper identifies VCAM1 as an astrocytic regulator of hippocampal synapse development through cross-modal analysis combining single-cell spatial transcriptomics and protein-level profiling.

Profiling presynaptic scaffolds using split-GFP reconstitution reveals cell-type-specific spatial configurations in the fly brain

The paper uses split-GFP reconstitution to profile presynaptic scaffold protein configurations in fly brain neurons, revealing cell-type-specific spatial patterns and learning-induced plasticity.

A High-Throughput Automated Pipeline to Analyze Synapse Function by Calcium Imaging

This paper introduces a high-throughput automated pipeline for analyzing synaptic function via calcium imaging and demonstrates its sensitivity in detecting synaptic dysfunction.

A Distinct Layer 1 Astrocyte Program Shapes Perisynaptic Structure and Calcium Signaling in Mouse Motor Cortex

The paper identifies a distinct Layer 1 astrocyte program in mouse motor cortex linked to specialized structure and calcium signaling, showing that Id1/Id3 deletion disrupts this program.

The claudin-like molecule CLC-3 regulates neuromuscular function in Caenorhabditis elegans by modulating cholinergic signalling

The paper identifies CLC-3 as a claudin-like protein in C. elegans that regulates neuromuscular function by modulating cholinergic signalling through synaptic vesicle organization.