How can training programs better prepare students for different career options? By bridging the disconnect between mentors as traditional role models for academic careers and the reality that students are taking other routes in science. Find out how to adjust your training programs in these videos with Alan Sved.

Feel in-control when applying for an NIH grant mechanism. Know how the peer review process works and what you can expect. In these videos, René Etcheberrigaray lays it all out for you.

Learn how rewarding teaching in secondary education can be. Paul Cammer discusses his decision to move into high school teaching from research, and how much others in the field can get out of making a similar move.

Think about a time when you didn’t receive the recognition you felt you deserved, or when you hadn’t been heard on a particular issue. How productive were you? Did you still feel connected to your team, or did you withdraw?

Choosing your postdoc is an important decision in a neuroscientist’s career. In this playlist, Viji Ravindranath walks through what not to do, what you absolutely should do, how to transition out of your postdoc, and answers questions that many trainees have about the process.

How the human brain reconstructs, step-by-step, the core elements of past experiences is still unclear. Here, we map the spatio-temporal trajectories along which visual object memories are reconstructed during associative recall. Specifically, we inquire whether retrieval reinstates feature representations in a copy-like but reversed direction with respect to the initial perceptual experience, or alternatively, this reconstruction involves format transformations and regions beyond initial perception. Participants from two cohorts studied new associations between verbs and randomly paired object images and subsequently recalled the objects when presented with the corresponding verb cue. We first analyse multivariate fMRI patterns to map where in the brain high- and low-level object features can be decoded during perception and retrieval, showing that retrieval is dominated by conceptual features, represented in comparatively late visual and parietal areas. A separately acquired EEG dataset is then used to t...

Previous physiological and psychophysical studies have explored whether feedback to the cochlea from the efferent system influences forward masking. The present work proposes that the limited growth-of-masking (GOM) observed in auditory-nerve (AN) fibers may have been misunderstood; namely, that this limitation may be due to the influence of anesthesia on the efferent system. Building on the premise that the unanesthetized AN may exhibit GOM similar to more central nuclei, the present computational modeling study demonstrates that feedback from the medial olivocochlear (MOC) efferents may contribute to GOM observed physiologically in onset-type neurons in both the cochlear nucleus and inferior colliculus (IC). Additionally, the computational model of MOC efferents used here generates a decrease in masking with longer masker-signal delays similar to that observed in IC physiology and in psychophysical studies. An advantage of this explanation over alternative physiological explanations (e.g., that forward m...

Astrocytes are essential for the formation and maintenance of neural networks. However, a major technical challenge for investigating astrocyte function and disease-related pathophysiology has been the limited ability to obtain functional human astrocytes. Despite recent advances in human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) techniques, primary rodent astrocytes remain the gold standard in co-culture with human neurons. We demonstrate that a combination of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP4) directs hPSC-derived neural precursor cells to a highly pure population of astroglia in 28 days. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we confirm the astroglial identity of these cells and highlight profound transcriptional adaptations in co-cultured hPSC-derived astrocytes and neurons, consistent with their further maturation. In co-culture with human neurons, multielectrode array recordings revealed robust network activity of human neurons in a co-culture with hPSC-derived or rat astrocytes (...

The field of neuroscience embodies a very active international scientific community that drives the need for neuroscience training programs to internationalize their training efforts. Increasing efforts to attract and acclimate students will leverage diverse scientific collaboration with academic success. This webinar showcases two neuroscience training programs, and describe how each support their international student body by addressing language barriers, pre-course requirements, and general adaptation to a new country. The program also features the perspectives of two students.

The goal of connectomics is to reveal the links between neural circuits and behavior. Larvae of the primitive chordate Ciona are well-suited to make contributions in this area. In addition to having a described connectome, Ciona larvae have a range of readily quantified behaviors. Moreover, the small number of neurons in the larval CNS (∼180) holds the promise of a comprehensive characterization of individual neurons. We present single-neuron predictions for glutamate receptor (GlutR) expression based on in situ hybridization. Included are both ionotropic receptors (AMPA, NMDA, and kainate) and metabotropic receptors. The predicted glutamate receptor expression dataset is discussed in the context of known circuits driving behaviors such as phototaxis, mechanosensation, and looming shadow response. The predicted expression of AMPA and NMDA receptors may help resolve issues regarding the co-production of GABA and glutamate by a subset of photoreceptors. The targets of these photoreceptors in the midbrain app...