Chronic pain is a debilitative disease affecting 1 in 5 adults globally, and is a major risk factor for anxiety (Goldberg and McGee, 2011; Lurie, DI., 2018). Given the current dearth of available treatments for both individuals living with chronic pain and mental illnesses, there is a critical need for research into the molecular mechanisms involved in order to discover novel treatment targets. Cellular homeostasis is crucial for normal bodily functions and investigations of this process may provide better understanding of the mechanisms driving the development of chronic pain. Using the spared nerve injury (SNI) model of neuropathic pain, we found contrasting roles for BECLIN-1 in the development of pain hypersensitivity and anxiety-like behaviors in a sex-dependent manner. Remarkably, we found that male SNI mice with impaired BECLIN-1 function demonstrated heightened mechanical and thermal hypersensitivity compared to male wildtype SNI mice, while female SNI mice with impaired BECLIN-1 function demonstra...

High-frequency stimulation (HFS)-induced long-term potentiation (LTP) is generally regarded as a homosynaptic Hebbian-type LTP, where synaptic changes are thought to occur at the synapses that project from the stimulation site and terminate onto the neurons at the recording site. In this study, we first investigated HFS-induced LTP on urethane-anesthetized rats and found that cortical HFS enhances neural responses at the recording site through the strengthening of local connectivity with nearby neurons at the stimulation site, rather than through synaptic strengthening at the recording site. This enhanced local connectivity at the stimulation site leads to increased output propagation, resulting in signal potentiation at the recording site. Additionally, we discovered that HFS can also non-specifically strengthen distant afferent synapses at the HFS site, thereby expanding its impact beyond local neural connections. This form of plasticity exhibits a neo-Hebbian characteristic as it exclusively manifests i...

Selectively stopping individual parts of planned or ongoing movements is an everyday motor skill. For example, while walking in public you may stop yourself from waving at a stranger who you mistook for a friend while continuing to walk. Despite its ubiquity, our ability to selectively stop actions is limited. Canceling one action can delay the execution of other simultaneous actions. This stopping-interference effect on continuing actions during selective stopping may be attributed to a global inhibitory mechanism with widespread effects on the motor system. Previous studies have characterized a transient global reduction in corticomotor excitability by combining brain stimulation with electromyography (EMG). Here, we examined whether global motor inhibition during selective stopping can be measured peripherally and with high temporal resolution using EMG alone. Eighteen participants performed a bimanual anticipatory response inhibition task with their index fingers while maintaining a tonic contraction o...

This is the introductory video in the Implicit Bias Video Series from BruinX, the research and development unit within the University of California, Los Angeles's Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. This video describes how biases and heuristics can influence our decision-making and behavior without us even knowing it.

Processing and analyzing massive data sets is a major challenge, but training neuroscientists how to use them is integral to moving the field forward.

Psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with psychotic features, are characterized by noticeable deficits in “normal” behavior accompanied by hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, an early onset (the average age of onset is in the late teens or early twenties), and a derailed life course.

Two types of cells, excitatory and inhibitory neurons, come from distinct lineages during the development of the cortex.

Wayne Bowen, a professor at Brown University, and Kathryn Reissner, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, offer tips to scientists looking to start their first lab, and share their personal experiences in launching their labs.

Repeated concussions and other sports-related brain injuries have been recently thrust into the center of public attention. This forum looks at several aspects of this issue from the science of concussions through athletes' perspectives on the competitive system that can put young athletes at risk of injury. Panelists raise questions about whether society can reconcile its insatiable appetite for competition with safety owed to those who risk being harmed by them.

Explore the key tenants, best practices, and other considerations, such as those related to funding, to learn what it means to conduct rigorous and reproducible neuroscience research.