Projection neurons

…Projection neurons (PNs) in the canary premotor brain nucleus HVC show syllable-locked activity patterns which indicate their part in syllable-driving premotor '

The sensory world is highly dynamic, and the temporal structure of stimuli contains rich information about the environment. Odour plumes are shaped by complex airflow that imprint information about the nature and spatial organisation of the olfactory environment onto their temporal dynamics. Whilst insects and mammals alike can discern high-frequency information, how temporal properties of the olfactory environment are represented in the brain remains largely unknown. Here, we presented temporally rich and systematically varying odour stimuli whilst electrically recording from the output neuro

Animals make decisions based on high-dimensional sensory inputs. Obtaining their low-dimensional disentangled representations, ideally in an unsupervised manner, is essential for straightforward downstream information processing. Although the machine learning field has developed useful nonlinear dimensionality reduction methods such as t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) [1], their implementation in simple biological circuits remains unclear. Here, we develop a biologically plausible dimensionality reduction algorithm compatible with t-SNE. The proposed algorithm, named Hebbian

Perivascular lesions with accumulation of proteins with abnormal secondary structures are associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia. Along with upregulation of the genes (Gfap, Aqp4) involved in the pathogenesis, a number of long noncoding RNAs are differentially expressed in the lesion; however, the roles and functions of such noncoding RNAs are unknown. This study was aimed to explore novel functions of long noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) potentially involved in the suppression of the perivascular lesions. RNA expression profiles in the cerebral cortex of mice (6 weeks old) with

During mammalian cortical development, how different subtypes of projection neurons are generated by neural stem cells remains a major challenge. Over recent years, the expansion of RNA sequencing technologies has allowed the identification of heterogeneity within the progenitor pool. Understanding how this heterogeneity could participate in the control of cortical fate commitment is an exciting task. Here, we use single-cell RNA sequencing to describe the molecular characteristics of a subpopulation of RGCs that present reduced neurogenic behavior at early embryonic ages to later produce most

In nature, diverse sensory signals fluctuate in time and in space. Odors, for example, are distorted by wind into narrow filaments. When multiple spatially distinct odor sources exist, these filaments interleave but do not intermix. Such odor landscapes pose complementary challenges to animals – such as the fruit fly – that depend on olfaction to find food or mating partners. First, to select the best odor to track back to its source, the olfactory system must compare information from different filaments over relatively long timescales. Second, to remain on high alert to unexpected changes, su

…each composed of specific types of neurons. Interconnectivity between cortical areas is critical for sensory integration and sensorimotor transformation. Inter-areal cortical projection neurons are located in all cortical layers and form a heterogeneous population, which send their axon across cortical areas, both within and across hemispheres. How this diversity emerges during development remains largely unknown. Here, we address this question by linking the con

…from changes in the properties of neurons and circuits within the dorsal horns of the spinal cord. Although spinal cord circuits and their plasticity are challenging to study experimentally, only a handful of computational studies

…largely determined by local/intrinsic neurons. The architecture of the antennal lobe (AL), for example, is numerically dominated by its local neurons (LNs) that interact with olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) and projection neurons (PNs) within and across glomeruli. Detailed connectomic data, e.g., the Hemibrain dataset, reveal a massive number of nested feedback loops among these three classes of neurons. Dissecting the role of these feedback circuits is key to the understanding the computation taking place in AL and beyond. How

The songbird zebra finch is an exemplary model system in which to study trial-and-error learning, as the bird learns its single song gradually through the production of many noisy renditions. It is also a good system in which to study the maintenance of motor skills, as the adult bird actively maintains its song and retains some residual plasticity. Motor learning occurs through the association of timing within the song, represented by sparse firing in nucleus HVC, with motor output, driven by nucleus RA. Here we show through modeling that the small level of observed variability in HVC can res

…Projection neurons (PNs), which relay odor signals sensed by

…Projection neurons (PNs), which relay odor signals sensed