Brains implement some of the most complex functions of living systems including intelligence, decision-making, learning, and sentience, which is the capacity for subjective experience. To better understand these and other cognitive functions, neuroscientists have meticulously delineated the brain’s microcircuitry and pathways to relate mental phenomena with discrete neural substrates. One of the driving forces behind what has become an ever-expanding literature on functional neuroanatomy is the longstanding assumption that all mental actions and states can be localized, mapped, or otherwise attributed to specific configurations of brain matter. Consistent with this assumption, by selectively damaging or stimulating brain regions, one could suppress or evoke cognitive or behavioral responses that confirmed suspected structure-function relationships. While this approach has not helped explain why mind emerges from matter, its historical success is a crowning achievement for the field of cognitive neuroscienc...

Because of the legalization of Cannabis in many jurisdictions and the trend of increasing Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content in Cannabis products, an urgent need exists to understand the impact of Cannabis use during pregnancy on fetal neurodevelopment and behavior. To this end, we exposed female Sprague Dawley rats to Cannabis smoke daily from gestational day 6 to 20 or room air. Maternal reproductive parameters, offspring behavior, and gene expression in the offspring amygdala were assessed. Body temperature was decreased in dams following smoke exposure and more fecal boli were observed in the chambers before and after smoke exposure in dams exposed to smoke. Maternal weight gain, food intake, gestational length, litter number, and litter weight were not altered by exposure to Cannabis smoke. A significant increase in the male-to-female ratio was noted in the Cannabis -exposed litters. In adulthood, male and female Cannabis smoke-exposed offspring explored the inner zone of an open field significantl...

Most human navigation studies in MRI rely on virtual navigation. However, the necessary supine position in MRI makes it fundamentally different from daily ecological navigation. Nonetheless, until now, no study has assessed whether differences in physical body orientation (BO) affect participants’ experienced BO during virtual navigation. Here, combining an immersive virtual reality navigation task with subjective BO measures and implicit behavioral measures, we demonstrate that physical BO (either standing or supine) modulates experienced BO. Also, we show that standing upright BO is preferred during spatial navigation: participants were more likely to experience a standing BO and were better at spatial navigation when standing upright. Importantly, we report that showing a supine virtual agent reduces the conflict between the preferred BO and physical supine BO. Our study provides critical, but missing, information regarding experienced BO during virtual navigation, which should be considered cautiously ...

I am always marveled by the brain’s vast capabilities. Each discovery, each revelation, seems to open a door only to reveal myriad others yet unopened. The brain, with its vast intricacies, consistently reminds us that its complexity transcends the limits of our imagination. It is in this spirit that I wish to introduce “Brain Mysteries: Complexity Beyond Imagination” in eNeuro . All neuroscientists have been contributing for decades to the mapping of brain networks and to the unraveling of its codes. While every stride has been fruitful in terms …

Neuroscientists endeavor to unravel the mysteries of brain functions and dysfunctions. A common research strategy involves measuring specific parameters across various conditions. These measurements are then typically repeated, averaged, and used to infer general patterns or rules. The act of averaging data is an ancient practice; for instance, early astronomers in Babylonian, Chinese, and Indian cultures implicitly averaged observations of celestial phenomena to predict significant periods, such as those crucial for agriculture. Averaging is a sound approach when the process being studied follows to a mathematical function, represented as y = f(x), where f is a very general function. This is true even if the exact function is not known at the outset of the experiments. Implicit in this method is the assumption that any variations in measurements arise from imperfections in the recording process since a consistent mathematical rule suggests that identical inputs should always yield the same output. In ess...

Every so often, I conclude that life is not possible. It is not uncommon for me to walk out of a seminar about the pathways and dynamics of biochemical signaling or the structure of biological molecules to conclude that the complexities of life processes defy imagination. Our ability to maintain a sense of wonder about the mysteries of biological mechanisms is what drives us as scientists, as otherwise wresting new insights from the recalcitrant world of interacting pathways would be too frustrating. So all successful biologists must, paradoxically, see both the proverbial forest and their trees, and recognize both the elegant simplicity and the confounds characteristic of living organisms. That sense of mystery and wonder is somewhat at odds with our common sense. It is common sense that is now too often lost, as we grapple with new technologies and large datasets in our science. As scientists, today, we must balance our common sense with our growing reliance on big data to extract the new insights about...

The sensory system allows humans to not only explore the world but also to monitor their own bodies for injury and disease through the sensation of pain. After an injury, signals from the injured tissues travel along the nerves, entering the central nervous system through the spinal cord before going into the brain. In the acute stages, pain modulates behavior in ways that promote healing, including limiting mobility. In most cases, pain resolves as the injury heals, but, in some cases, pain persists and becomes chronic. Chronic pain is a massive issue, affecting up to 20% of Americans and leading to reduced quality of life for those affected. The factors leading to chronic pain are complex, and new approaches are needed to improve understanding of chronic pain and find effective treatments. In the current issue of eNeuro , Haroun et al. (2023) use a new approach to transiently silence sensory neurons in uninjured mice as well as mouse models of acute and chronic pain using a technique known as chemogenet...

Animals exhibit context-dependent behavioral decisions that are mediated by specific motor circuits. In social species these decisions are often influenced by social status. Although social status-dependent neural plasticity of motor circuits has been investigated in vertebrates, little is known of how cellular plasticity translates into differences in motor activity. Here, we used zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) as a model organism to examine how social dominance influences the activation of swimming and the Mauthner mediated startle escape behaviors. We show that the status-dependent shift in behavior patterns whereby dominants increase swimming and reduce sensitivity of startle escape while subordinates reduce their swimming and increase startle sensitivity is regulated by the synergistic interactions of dopaminergic, glycinergic and GABAergic inputs to shift the balance of activation of the underlying motor circuits. This shift is driven by socially induced differences in expression of dopaminergic receptor ...

Commenting about science has risks. Being critical sometimes raises strong opposing reactions. People work so hard and leaders do not like to see their strategies under fire. Critics do not usually provide easy solutions to the problems they raise, and the questions, even if they are right on target, remain largely unanswered. When the stakes are high and massive funds wait to be delivered, the train (or ship), once launched, ought not to derail (nor sink). It must go on, as planned, keeping the initial thrust alive. In terms of management efficacy, a typical reason why the project’s leadership does not answer critiques is to “keep the monkey(s) on the critics’ shoulders” (Oncken and Wass, 1974; Cover, 1999). Being proactive may be a better way to get rid of the monkeys and open a constructive dialogue. The issue then becomes: what could have been done instead, for a better science? This is typically the question that I am asked at the end of my neuro-epistemological talks, or in comments received followi...

Spatial cognition research requires behavioral paradigms that can distinguish between different navigational elements, such as allocentric (map-like) navigation and egocentric (e.g., body centered) navigation. To fill this need, we developed a flexible experimental platform that can be quickly modified without the need for significant changes to software and hardware. In this paper, we present this inexpensive and flexible behavioral platform paired with software which we are making freely available. Our behavioral platform serves as the foundation for a range of experiments, and although developed for assessing spatial cognition, it also has applications in the nonspatial domain of behavioral testing. There are two components of the software platform, “Maze” and “Stim Trigger.” While intended as a general platform, presently both programs can work in conjunction with Neuralynx and Open Ephys electrophysiology acquisition systems, allowing for precise time stamping of neural events. The Maze program includ...