Topic: posterior thalamus

While navigating the world, we constantly make decisions under uncertainty. In face of noisy perceptions, we build and continuously update our priors and expectations about future events in order to efficiently estimate and map sensory information to actions. In a non-stationary environment, exploratory behaviour may represent an optimal strategy to optimise reward at any given context. Even in stationary environments, animals may perform this innate exploratory behaviour and exhibit unexpected biases. In this work, we investigate how previous experience – sensory priors, as well as choice and

Focused ultrasound (FUS) is a novel noninvasive modality for neuromodulation in the central nervous system with a high spatial resolution and the ability to target deep brain structures. Rodent studies have shown motor responses following FUS but mostly failed to demonstrate consistent and target-specific effects. Here, we used a high-frequency (4 MHz) transducer with a small focal area to investigate the target-specificity of FUS neuromodulation. Mice were implanted with a large cranial window consisting of an ultrasound-transparent Polymethylpentene membrane. For the experiment, awake mice w