Astrocytes are the most abundant glial cell in the brain and perform a wide range of tasks that support neuronal function and circuit activities. There is emerging evidence that astrocytes exhibit molecular and cellular heterogeneity; however, whether distinct subpopulations perform these diverse roles remains poorly defined. Here we show that the Lunatic Fringe-GFP (Lfng-GFP) bacteria artificial chromosome mouse line from both sexes specifically labels astrocyte populations within lamina III and IV of the dorsal spinal cord. Transcriptional profiling of Lfng-GFP+ astrocytes revealed unique molecular profiles, featuring an enriched expression of Notch- and Wnt- pathway components. Leveraging CRE-DOG viral tools, we ablated Lfng-GFP+ astrocytes, which decreased neuronal activity in lamina III and IV and impaired mechanosensation associated with light touch. Together, our findings identify Lfng-GFP+ astrocytes as a unique subpopulation that occupies a distinct anatomic location in the spinal cord and directl...

When we look at our body parts, we are immediately aware that they belong to us and we rarely doubt about the integrity, continuity, and sense of ownership of our body. Despite this certainty, immersive virtual reality (IVR) may lead to a strong feeling of embodiment over an artificial body part seen from a first-person perspective (1PP). Although such feeling of ownership (FO) has been described in different situations, it is not yet understood how this phenomenon is generated at neural level. To track the real-time brain dynamics associated with FO, we delivered transcranial magnetic stimuli over the hand region in the primary motor cortex (M1) and simultaneously recorded electroencephalography (EEG) in 19 healthy volunteers (11 male/8 female) watching IVR renderings of anatomically plausible (full-limb) versus implausible (hand disconnected from the forearm) virtual limbs. Our data show that embodying a virtual hand is temporally associated with a rapid drop of cortical activity of the onlookers' hand r...

In the article, “Differences between Dorsal Root and Trigeminal Ganglion Nociceptors in Mice Revealed by Translational Profiling,” by Salim Megat, Pradipta R. Ray, Diana Tavares-Ferreira, Jamie K. Moy, Ishwarya Sankaranarayanan, Andi Wanghzou, Tzu Fang Lou, Paulino Barragan-Iglesias, Zachary T.

One of the important responsibilities of the Editorial Board is to evaluate the scope of papers published in JNeurosci regularly. As neuroscience researchers, we want to ensure the journal reflects the evolution we see in the field and to ensure the journal remains relevant and interesting to our

Theta oscillations are one of the brain rhythms involved in memory formation, sensorimotor integration and control of locomotion and behavioural states. Generation and spatiotemporal synchronisation of theta oscillations rely on the interactions between nuclei forming a large neural network, part of which is pontine nucleus incertus (NI). Here we identified distinct populations of NI neurons, based on the relationship of their firing to the hippocampal waves, with the special focus on theta oscillations, and the direction and type of interaction with the medial septum (MS) in male, urethane anaesthetised rats. By recording NI neuronal firing and hippocampal LFP we described NI neurons that fire action potentials in a theta phase-independent or theta phase-locked and delta wave-independent or delta wave-locked manner. Among hippocampal activity independent NI neurons, irregular, slow-firing and regular, fast-firing cells were observed, while hippocampal oscillations/waves locked NI neurons could be of burst...

Malfunctioning synaptic plasticity is one of the major mechanisms contributing to the development of chronic pain. We studied spike-timing dependent depression (tLTD) in the ACC of male mice, a brain region involved in processing emotional aspects of pain. tLTD onto layer 5 pyramidal neurons depended on postsynaptic calcium-influx through GluN2B-containing NMDARs and retrograde signaling via nitric oxide to reduce presynaptic release probability. After chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve, a model for neuropathic pain, tLTD was rapidly impaired; and this phenotype persisted even beyond the time of recovery from mechanical sensitization. Exclusion of GluN2B-containing NMDARs from the postsynaptic site specifically at projections from the anterior thalamus to the ACC caused the tLTD phenotype, whereas signaling downstream of nitric oxide synthesis remained intact. Thus, transient neuropathic pain can leave a permanent trace manifested in the disturbance of synaptic plasticity in a specific affere...

Sound-level coding in the auditory nerve is achieved through the progressive recruitment of auditory nerve fibers (ANFs) that differ in threshold of activation and in the stimulus level at which the spike rate saturates. To investigate the functional state of the ANFs, the electrophysiological tests routinely used in clinics only capture the first action potentials firing in synchrony at the onset of the acoustic stimulation. Assessment of other properties ( e.g . spontaneous rate and adaptation time constants) requires single-fiber recordings directly from the nerve, which for ethical reasons is not allowed in humans. By combining neuronal activity measurements at the round window and signal-processing algorithms, we constructed a peri-stimulus time response (PSTR), with a waveform similar to the peri-stimulus time histograms (PSTHs) derived from single-fiber recordings in young adult female gerbils. Simultaneous recordings of round-window PSTR and single-fiber PSTH provided models to predict the adaptati...

The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) contains the largest population of serotonin (5-HT) neurons in the central nervous system. 5-HT, synthesized via tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (Tph2), is a widely functioning neuromodulator implicated in fear learning. Here we sought to investigate whether DRN 5-HT is necessary to reduce fear via negative prediction error. Using male and female TPH2-cre rats, DRNtph2+ cells were selectively deleted via cre-caspase (rAAV5-Flex-taCasp3-TEVp) in Experiment 1. Rats then underwent fear discrimination during which three cues were associated with unique foot shock probabilities: safety p=0.00, uncertainty p=0.375, and danger p=1.00. Rats then received selective extinction to the uncertainty cue, a behavioral manipulation designed to probe negative prediction error. Deleting DRNtph2+ cells had no impact on initial discrimination but slowed selective extinction. In Experiment 2, we used a within-subjects optogenetic inhibition design to causally implicate DRNtph2+ cells in prediction error...

The neuropeptide oxytocin (Oxt) plays important roles in modulating social behaviors. Oxytocin receptor (Oxtr) is abundantly expressed in the brain and its relationship to socio-behavioral controls has been extensively studied using mouse brains. Several genetic tools to visualize and/or manipulate Oxtr-expressing cells, such as fluorescent reporters and Cre recombinase drivers, have been generated by ES-cell based gene targeting or bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) transgenesis. However, these mouse lines displayed some differences in their Oxtr expression profiles probably due to the complex context and integrity of their genomic configurations in each line. Here we apply our sophisticated genome-editing techniques to the Oxtr locus, systematically generating a series of knock-in mouse lines, in which its endogenous transcriptional regulations are intactly preserved and evaluate their expression profiles to ensure the reliability of our new tools. We employ the epitope tagging strategy, with which C-...