The FENS-SfN Summer School on Neurodevelopmental Psychiatric Disorders took place June 22-28, 2014, in in Bertinoro, Italy. Watch an interview with the scientific organizers of the FENS-SfN Summer School 2014 on Neurodevelopmental Psychiatric Disorders.

Far from being an extra or time-permitting task, mentoring is as essential to a faculty member’s success as teaching, research, and publication.

Considering a career in academia? Small liberal arts institutions are just one of many options. See if they’re the right fit for you by learning about the opportunities and challenges in this type of environment.

Studies employing EEG to measure somatosensory responses have been typically optimized to compute event-related potentials in response to discrete events (ERPs). However, tactile interactions involve continuous processing of non-stationary inputs that change in location, duration, and intensity. To fill this gap, this study aims to demonstrate the possibility of measuring the neural tracking of continuous and unpredictable tactile information. Twenty-seven young adults (females = 15) were continuously and passively stimulated with a random series of gentle brushes on single fingers of each hand, which were covered from view. Thus, tactile stimulations were unique for each participant, and stimulated fingers. An encoding model measured the degree of synchronization between brain activity and continuous tactile input, generating a temporal response function (TRF). Brain topographies associated with the encoding of each finger stimulation showed a contralateral response at central sensors starting at 50 ms an...

Systemic inflammation has been implicated in the development and progression of neurodegenerative conditions such as cognitive impairment and dementia. Recent clinical studies indicate an association between sepsis, endothelial dysfunction, and cognitive decline. However, the investigations of the role and therapeutic potential of the cerebral microvasculature in sepsis-induced cognitive dysfunction have been limited by the lack of standardized experimental models for evaluating the alterations in the cerebral microvasculature and cognition induced by the systemic inflammatory response. Herein, we validated a mouse model of endotoxemia that recapitulates key pathophysiology related to sepsis-induced cognitive dysfunction, including the induction of an acute systemic hyperinflammatory response, blood-brain barrier (BBB) leakage, neurovascular inflammation, and memory impairment after recovery from the systemic inflammation. In the acute phase, we identified novel molecular (e.g. upregulation of plasmalemma ...

Rett syndrome (RTT), a severe neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations in the MeCP2 gene, is characterized by cognitive and social deficits. Previous studies have noted hypoactivity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) pyramidal neurons of MeCP2-deficient mice (RTT mice) in response to both social and nonsocial stimuli. To further understand the neural mechanisms behind the social deficits of RTT mice, we monitored excitatory pyramidal neurons in the prelimbic region of the mPFC during social interactions in mice. These neurons' activity was closely linked to social preference, especially in wild-type mice. However, RTT mice showed reduced social interest and corresponding hypoactivity in these neurons, indicating that impaired mPFC activity contributes to their social deficits. We identified six mPFC neural ensembles selectively tuned to various stimuli, with RTT mice recruiting fewer neurons to ensembles responsive to social interactions and consistently showing lower stimulus-ON ensemble transi...

Two-photon calcium imaging allows for the activity readout of large populations of neurons at single cell resolution in living organisms, yielding new insights into how the brain processes information. Holographic optogenetics allows us to trigger activity of this population directly, raising the possibility of injecting information into a living brain. Optogenetic triggering of activity that mimics “natural” information, however, requires identification of stimulation targets based on real-time analysis of the functional network. We have developed NeuroART ( Neuro nal A nalysis in R eal T ime), software that provides real-time readout of neuronal activity integrated with downstream analysis of correlations and synchrony, and of sensory metadata. On the example of auditory stimuli, we demonstrate real-time inference of the contribution of each neuron in the field of view to sensory information processing. To avoid the limitations of microscope hardware and enable collaboration of multiple research groups, ...

Female neuroscientists may face many unique hurdles during the course of their careers including implicit gender bias, recruitment in academia, climate, and promotion and tenure impact. Join Susan Amara, PhD, and Sheena Josselyn, PhD, for the Women in Neuroscience subcommittee webinar and hear about the challenges they have faced and the advice they have for others who are in similar situations. At the end of the webinar, you will have new perspective to help you overcome similar challenges.

At large research universities, it is your responsibility as a student to seek out and engage faculty members. It is unrealistic to expect a professor will come along, recognize your need for a mentor, and generously provide that personal and professional relationship.

There are many different types of neuroscience master’s programs — how do you know which one may be right for you or your school? This webinar will provide an overview of the different approaches to master’s studies, with a focus on program benefits for both students and faculty.