Executive functions arise from multiple regions of the brain acting in concert. To facilitate such cross-regional computations, the brain is organized into distinct executive networks, like the frontoparietal network. Despite similar cognitive abilities across many domains, little is known about such executive networks in birds. Recent advances in avian fMRI have shown a possible subset of regions, including the nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) and the lateral part of medial intermediate nidopallium (NIML), that may contribute to complex cognition, forming an action control system of pigeons. We investigated the neuronal activity of NCL and NIML. Single-cell recordings were obtained during the execution of a complex sequential motor task that required executive control to stop executing one behavior and continue with a different one. We compared the neuronal activity of NIML to NCL and found that both regions fully processed the ongoing sequential execution of the task. Differences arose from how behavioral...

Primary cilia are cellular appendages critical for diverse types of Signaling. They are found on most cell types, including cells throughout the CNS. Cilia preferentially localize certain G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and are critical for mediating the signaling of these receptors. Several of these neuronal GPCRs have recognized roles in feeding behavior and energy homeostasis. Cell and model systems, such as Caenorhabditis elegans and Chlamydomonas , have implicated both dynamic GPCR cilia localization and cilia length and shape changes as key for signaling. It is unclear whether mammalian ciliary GPCRs use similar mechanisms in vivo and under what conditions these processes may occur. Here, we assess two neuronal cilia GPCRs, melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 1 (MCHR1) and neuropeptide-Y receptor 2 (NPY2R), as mammalian model ciliary receptors in the mouse brain. We test the hypothesis that dynamic localization to cilia occurs under physiological conditions associated with these GPCR functions...

Persistent neuronal firing is often observed in working memory and temporal association tasks both in humans and animals, and is believed to retain necessary information in these tasks. We have reported that hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells are able to support persistent firing through intrinsic mechanisms in the presence of cholinergic agonists. However, it still remains largely unknown how persistent firing is affected by the development of animals and aging. Using in vitro patch-clamp recordings from CA1 pyramidal cells in rat brain slices, we first show that the cellular excitability of these aged rats was significantly lower than that of the young rats, responding with fewer spikes to current injection. In addition, we found age-dependent modulations of input resistance, membrane capacitance, and spike width. However, persistent firing in aged (approximately two-year-old) rats was as strong as that in young animals, and the properties of persistent firing were very similar among different age groups. I...

Wallerian degeneration (WD) occurs in the early stages of numerous neurologic disorders, and clarifying WD pathology is crucial for the advancement of neurologic therapies. ATP is acknowledged as one of the key pathologic substances in WD. The ATP-related pathologic pathways that regulate WD have been defined. The elevation of ATP levels in axon contributes to delay WD and protects axons. However, ATP is necessary for the active processes to proceed WD, given that WD is stringently managed by auto-destruction programs. But little is known about the bioenergetics during WD. In this study, we made sciatic nerve transection models for GO-ATeam2 knock-in rats and mice. We presented the spatiotemporal ATP distribution in the injured axons with in vivo ATP imaging systems, and investigated the metabolic source of ATP in the distal nerve stump. A gradual decrease in ATP levels was observed before the progression of WD. In addition, the glycolytic system and monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) were activated in Sc...

Relapse is a major problem in treating methamphetamine use disorder. “Incubation of craving” during abstinence is a rat model for persistence of vulnerability to craving and relapse. While methamphetamine incubation has previously been demonstrated in male and female rats, it has not been demonstrated after withdrawal periods greater than 51 d and most mechanistic work used males. Here, we address both gaps. First, although methamphetamine intake was higher in males during self-administration training (6 h/d × 10 d), incubation was similar in males and females, with “incubated” craving persisting through withdrawal day (WD)100. Second, using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in medium spiny neurons (MSNs) of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) core, we assessed synaptic levels of calcium-permeable AMPA receptors (CP-AMPARs), as their elevation is required for expression of incubation in males. In both sexes, compared with saline-self-administering controls, CP-AMPAR levels were significantly higher in methamphetam...

Comparative neuroimaging allows for the identification of similarities and differences between species. It provides an important and promising avenue, to answer questions about the evolutionary origins of the brain´s organization, in terms of both structure and function. Dog functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has recently become one particularly promising and increasingly used approach to study brain function and coevolution. In dog neuroimaging, image acquisition has so far been mostly performed with coils originally developed for use in human MRI. Since such coils have been tailored to human anatomy, their sensitivity and data quality is likely not optimal for dog MRI. Therefore, we developed a multichannel receive coil (K9 coil, read “canine”) tailored for high-resolution functional imaging in canines, optimized for dog cranial anatomy. In this paper we report structural ( n  = 9) as well as functional imaging data (resting-state, n  = 6; simple visual paradigm, n  = 9) collected with the K9 c...

Women are twice as likely as men to experience emotional dysregulation after stress, resulting in substantially higher psychopathology for equivalent lifetime stress exposure, yet the mechanisms underlying this vulnerability remain unknown. Studies suggest changes in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) activity as a potential contributor. Whether maladaptive changes in inhibitory interneurons participate in this process, and whether adaptations in response to stress differ between men and women, producing sex-specific changes in emotional behaviors and mPFC activity, remained undetermined. This study examined whether unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) in mice differentially alters behavior and mPFC parvalbumin (PV) interneuron activity by sex, and whether the activity of these neurons drives sex-specific behavioral changes. Four weeks of UCMS increased anxiety-like and depressive-like behaviors associated with FosB activation in mPFC PV neurons, particularly in females. After 8 weeks of UCMS, both sexes ...

The cochlear nuclei (CNs) receive sensory information from the ear and perform fundamental computations before relaying this information to higher processing centers. These computations are performed by distinct types of neurons interconnected in circuits dedicated to the specialized roles of the auditory system. In the present study, we explored the use of voltage imaging to investigate CN circuitry. We tested two approaches based on fundamentally different voltage sensing technologies. Using a voltage-sensitive dye we recorded glutamate receptor-independent signals arising predominantly from axons. The mean conduction velocity of these fibers of 0.27 m/s was rapid but in range with other unmyelinated axons. We then used a genetically-encoded hybrid voltage sensor (hVOS) to image voltage from a specific population of neurons. Probe expression was controlled using Cre recombinase linked to c-fos activation. This activity-induced gene enabled targeting of neurons that are activated when a mouse hears a pure...

How an odor is perceived is to a large extent dependent on the context in which that odor is (or has been) experienced. For example, experiencing an odor in mixture with taste during consumption can instill taste qualities in the percept of that odor (e.g., vanilla, an odor, has a gustatory quality: sweet). How associative features of odors are encoded in the brain remains unknown, but previous work suggests an important role for ongoing interactions between piriform cortex and extraolfactory systems. Here, we tested the hypothesis that piriform cortex dynamically encodes taste associations of odors. Rats were trained to associate one of two odors with saccharin; the other odor remained neutral. Before and after training, we tested preferences for the saccharin-associated odor versus the neutral odor, and recorded spiking responses from ensembles of neurons in posterior piriform cortex (pPC) to intraoral delivery of small drops of the same odor solutions. The results show that animals successfully learned ...

The highly-conserved stomatin domain has been identified in genes throughout all classes of life. In animals, different stomatin domain-encoding genes have been implicated in the function of the kidney, red blood cells, and specific neuron types, although the underlying mechanisms remain unresolved. In one well-studied example of stomatin domain gene function, the Caenorhabditis elegans gene mec-2 and its mouse homolog Stoml3 are required for the function of mechanosensory neurons, where they modulate the activity of mechanosensory ion channels on the plasma membrane. Here, we identify an additional shared function for mec-2 and Stoml3 in a very different sensory context, that of olfaction. In worms, we find that a subset of stomatin domain genes are expressed in olfactory neurons, but only mec-2 is strongly required for olfactory behavior. mec-2 acts cell-autonomously and multiple alternatively-spliced isoforms of mec-2 can be substituted for each other. We generate a Stoml3 knock-out (KO) mouse and demon...