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Griffiths BJ, Schreiner T, Schaefer JK, Vollmar C, Kaufmann E, Quach S, Remi J, Noachtar S, Staudigl T. Electrophysiological signatures of veridical head direction in humans. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:1334-1350. [PMID: 38710766 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01872-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
Information about heading direction is critical for navigation as it provides the means to orient ourselves in space. However, given that veridical head-direction signals require physical rotation of the head and most human neuroimaging experiments depend upon fixing the head in position, little is known about how the human brain is tuned to such heading signals. Here we adress this by asking 52 healthy participants undergoing simultaneous electroencephalography and motion tracking recordings (split into two experiments) and 10 patients undergoing simultaneous intracranial electroencephalography and motion tracking recordings to complete a series of orientation tasks in which they made physical head rotations to target positions. We then used a series of forward encoding models and linear mixed-effects models to isolate electrophysiological activity that was specifically tuned to heading direction. We identified a robust posterior central signature that predicts changes in veridical head orientation after regressing out confounds including sensory input and muscular activity. Both source localization and intracranial analysis implicated the medial temporal lobe as the origin of this effect. Subsequent analyses disentangled head-direction signatures from signals relating to head rotation and those reflecting location-specific effects. Lastly, when directly comparing head direction and eye-gaze-related tuning, we found that the brain maintains both codes while actively navigating, with stronger tuning to head direction in the medial temporal lobe. Together, these results reveal a taxonomy of population-level head-direction signals within the human brain that is reminiscent of those reported in the single units of rodents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin J Griffiths
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
- Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Thomas Schreiner
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Julia K Schaefer
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Christian Vollmar
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Elisabeth Kaufmann
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Stefanie Quach
- Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Jan Remi
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Soheyl Noachtar
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Tobias Staudigl
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
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2
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Pecirno SA, Keinath AT. The neuroscience of turning heads. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:1243-1244. [PMID: 38877288 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01920-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Sergio A Pecirno
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
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3
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Schreiner T, Griffiths BJ, Kutlu M, Vollmar C, Kaufmann E, Quach S, Remi J, Noachtar S, Staudigl T. Spindle-locked ripples mediate memory reactivation during human NREM sleep. Nat Commun 2024; 15:5249. [PMID: 38898100 PMCID: PMC11187142 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49572-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 06/11/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Memory consolidation relies in part on the reactivation of previous experiences during sleep. The precise interplay of sleep-related oscillations (slow oscillations, spindles and ripples) is thought to coordinate the information flow between relevant brain areas, with ripples mediating memory reactivation. However, in humans empirical evidence for a role of ripples in memory reactivation is lacking. Here, we investigated the relevance of sleep oscillations and specifically ripples for memory reactivation during human sleep using targeted memory reactivation. Intracranial electrophysiology in epilepsy patients and scalp EEG in healthy participants revealed that elevated levels of slow oscillation - spindle activity coincided with the read-out of experimentally induced memory reactivation. Importantly, spindle-locked ripples recorded intracranially from the medial temporal lobe were found to be correlated with the identification of memory reactivation during non-rapid eye movement sleep. Our findings establish ripples as key-oscillation for sleep-related memory reactivation in humans and emphasize the importance of the coordinated interplay of the cardinal sleep oscillations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Schreiner
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Benjamin J Griffiths
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
- Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Merve Kutlu
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Christian Vollmar
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Elisabeth Kaufmann
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Stefanie Quach
- Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Jan Remi
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Soheyl Noachtar
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Tobias Staudigl
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
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4
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Jedrasiak-Cape I, Rybicki-Kler C, Brooks I, Ghosh M, Brennan EK, Kailasa S, Ekins TG, Rupp A, Ahmed OJ. Cell-type-specific cholinergic control of granular retrosplenial cortex with implications for angular velocity coding across brain states. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.04.597341. [PMID: 38895393 PMCID: PMC11185600 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.04.597341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
Cholinergic receptor activation enables the persistent firing of cortical pyramidal neurons, providing a key cellular basis for theories of spatial navigation involving working memory, path integration, and head direction encoding. The granular retrosplenial cortex (RSG) is important for spatially-guided behaviors, but how acetylcholine impacts RSG neurons is unknown. Here, we show that a transcriptomically, morphologically, and biophysically distinct RSG cell-type - the low-rheobase (LR) neuron - has a very distinct expression profile of cholinergic muscarinic receptors compared to all other neighboring excitatory neuronal subtypes. LR neurons do not fire persistently in response to cholinergic agonists, in stark contrast to all other principal neuronal subtypes examined within the RSG and across midline cortex. This lack of persistence allows LR neuron models to rapidly compute angular head velocity (AHV), independent of cholinergic changes seen during navigation. Thus, LR neurons can consistently compute AHV across brain states, highlighting the specialized RSG neural codes supporting navigation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Chloe Rybicki-Kler
- Dept. of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
| | - Isla Brooks
- Dept. of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
| | - Megha Ghosh
- Dept. of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
| | - Ellen K.W. Brennan
- Dept. of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
| | - Sameer Kailasa
- Dept. of Mathematics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
| | - Tyler G. Ekins
- Dept. of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
| | - Alan Rupp
- Dept. of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
| | - Omar J. Ahmed
- Dept. of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
- Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
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5
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Talpir I, Livneh Y. Stereotyped goal-directed manifold dynamics in the insular cortex. Cell Rep 2024; 43:114027. [PMID: 38568813 PMCID: PMC11063631 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2023] [Revised: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 03/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024] Open
Abstract
The insular cortex is involved in diverse processes, including bodily homeostasis, emotions, and cognition. However, we lack a comprehensive understanding of how it processes information at the level of neuronal populations. We leveraged recent advances in unsupervised machine learning to study insular cortex population activity patterns (i.e., neuronal manifold) in mice performing goal-directed behaviors. We find that the insular cortex activity manifold is remarkably consistent across different animals and under different motivational states. Activity dynamics within the neuronal manifold are highly stereotyped during rewarded trials, enabling robust prediction of single-trial outcomes across different mice and across various natural and artificial motivational states. Comparing goal-directed behavior with self-paced free consumption, we find that the stereotyped activity patterns reflect task-dependent goal-directed reward anticipation, and not licking, taste, or positive valence. These findings reveal a core computation in insular cortex that could explain its involvement in pathologies involving aberrant motivations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Itay Talpir
- Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
| | - Yoav Livneh
- Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
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6
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Clark BJ, LaChance PA, Winter SS, Mehlman ML, Butler W, LaCour A, Taube JS. Comparison of head direction cell firing characteristics across thalamo-parahippocampal circuitry. Hippocampus 2024; 34:168-196. [PMID: 38178693 PMCID: PMC10950528 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.23596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2023] [Revised: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 12/03/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024]
Abstract
Head direction (HD) cells, which fire persistently when an animal's head is pointed in a particular direction, are widely thought to underlie an animal's sense of spatial orientation and have been identified in several limbic brain regions. Robust HD cell firing is observed throughout the thalamo-parahippocampal system, although recent studies report that parahippocampal HD cells exhibit distinct firing properties, including conjunctive aspects with other spatial parameters, which suggest they play a specialized role in spatial processing. Few studies, however, have quantified these apparent differences. Here, we performed a comparative assessment of HD cell firing characteristics across the anterior dorsal thalamus (ADN), postsubiculum (PoS), parasubiculum (PaS), medial entorhinal (MEC), and postrhinal (POR) cortices. We report that HD cells with a high degree of directional specificity were observed in all five brain regions, but ADN HD cells display greater sharpness and stability in their preferred directions, and greater anticipation of future headings compared to parahippocampal regions. Additional analysis indicated that POR HD cells were more coarsely modulated by other spatial parameters compared to PoS, PaS, and MEC. Finally, our analyses indicated that the sharpness of HD tuning decreased as a function of laminar position and conjunctive coding within the PoS, PaS, and MEC, with cells in the superficial layers along with conjunctive firing properties showing less robust directional tuning. The results are discussed in relation to theories of functional organization of HD cell tuning in thalamo-parahippocampal circuitry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin J Clark
- Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
| | - Patrick A LaChance
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Shawn S Winter
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Max L Mehlman
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Will Butler
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Ariyana LaCour
- Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
| | - Jeffrey S Taube
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
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7
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Duszkiewicz AJ, Orhan P, Skromne Carrasco S, Brown EH, Owczarek E, Vite GR, Wood ER, Peyrache A. Local origin of excitatory-inhibitory tuning equivalence in a cortical network. Nat Neurosci 2024; 27:782-792. [PMID: 38491324 PMCID: PMC11001581 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01588-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 03/18/2024]
Abstract
The interplay between excitation and inhibition determines the fidelity of cortical representations. The receptive fields of excitatory neurons are often finely tuned to encoded features, but the principles governing the tuning of inhibitory neurons remain elusive. In this study, we recorded populations of neurons in the mouse postsubiculum (PoSub), where the majority of excitatory neurons are head-direction (HD) cells. We show that the tuning of fast-spiking (FS) cells, the largest class of cortical inhibitory neurons, was broad and frequently radially symmetrical. By decomposing tuning curves using the Fourier transform, we identified an equivalence in tuning between PoSub-FS and PoSub-HD cell populations. Furthermore, recordings, optogenetic manipulations of upstream thalamic populations and computational modeling provide evidence that the tuning of PoSub-FS cells has a local origin. These findings support the notion that the equivalence of neuronal tuning between excitatory and inhibitory cell populations is an intrinsic property of local cortical networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrian J Duszkiewicz
- Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
- Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK.
| | - Pierre Orhan
- Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Ecole normale supérieure, PSL University, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Sofia Skromne Carrasco
- Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Eleanor H Brown
- Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Eliott Owczarek
- Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Gilberto R Vite
- Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Emma R Wood
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Simons Initiative for the Developing Brain, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Adrien Peyrache
- Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
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8
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Secer G, Knierim JJ, Cowan NJ. Continuous Bump Attractor Networks Require Explicit Error Coding for Gain Recalibration. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.02.12.579874. [PMID: 38562699 PMCID: PMC10983875 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.12.579874] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Representations of continuous variables are crucial to create internal models of the external world. A prevailing model of how the brain maintains these representations is given by continuous bump attractor networks (CBANs) in a broad range of brain functions across different areas, such as spatial navigation in hippocampal/entorhinal circuits and working memory in prefrontal cortex. Through recurrent connections, a CBAN maintains a persistent activity bump, whose peak location can vary along a neural space, corresponding to different values of a continuous variable. To track the value of a continuous variable changing over time, a CBAN updates the location of its activity bump based on inputs that encode the changes in the continuous variable (e.g., movement velocity in the case of spatial navigation)-a process akin to mathematical integration. This integration process is not perfect and accumulates error over time. For error correction, CBANs can use additional inputs providing ground-truth information about the continuous variable's correct value (e.g., visual landmarks for spatial navigation). These inputs enable the network dynamics to automatically correct any representation error. Recent experimental work on hippocampal place cells has shown that, beyond correcting errors, ground-truth inputs also fine-tune the gain of the integration process, a crucial factor that links the change in the continuous variable to the updating of the activity bump's location. However, existing CBAN models lack this plasticity, offering no insights into the neural mechanisms and representations involved in the recalibration of the integration gain. In this paper, we explore this gap by using a ring attractor network, a specific type of CBAN, to model the experimental conditions that demonstrated gain recalibration in hippocampal place cells. Our analysis reveals the necessary conditions for neural mechanisms behind gain recalibration within a CBAN. Unlike error correction, which occurs through network dynamics based on ground-truth inputs, gain recalibration requires an additional neural signal that explicitly encodes the error in the network's representation via a rate code. Finally, we propose a modified ring attractor network as an example CBAN model that verifies our theoretical findings. Combining an error-rate code with Hebbian synaptic plasticity, this model achieves recalibration of integration gain in a CBAN, ensuring accurate representation for continuous variables.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gorkem Secer
- Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - James J Knierim
- Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Noah J Cowan
- Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
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9
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van der Goes MSH, Voigts J, Newman JP, Toloza EHS, Brown NJ, Murugan P, Harnett MT. Coordinated head direction representations in mouse anterodorsal thalamic nucleus and retrosplenial cortex. eLife 2024; 13:e82952. [PMID: 38470232 PMCID: PMC10932540 DOI: 10.7554/elife.82952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024] Open
Abstract
The sense of direction is critical for survival in changing environments and relies on flexibly integrating self-motion signals with external sensory cues. While the anatomical substrates involved in head direction (HD) coding are well known, the mechanisms by which visual information updates HD representations remain poorly understood. Retrosplenial cortex (RSC) plays a key role in forming coherent representations of space in mammals and it encodes a variety of navigational variables, including HD. Here, we use simultaneous two-area tetrode recording to show that RSC HD representation is nearly synchronous with that of the anterodorsal nucleus of thalamus (ADn), the obligatory thalamic relay of HD to cortex, during rotation of a prominent visual cue. Moreover, coordination of HD representations in the two regions is maintained during darkness. We further show that anatomical and functional connectivity are consistent with a strong feedforward drive of HD information from ADn to RSC, with anatomically restricted corticothalamic feedback. Together, our results indicate a concerted global HD reference update across cortex and thalamus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie-Sophie H van der Goes
- Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeUnited States
| | - Jakob Voigts
- Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeUnited States
- Open-Ephys IncAtlantaUnited States
- HHMI Janelia Research CampusAshburnUnited States
| | - Jonathan P Newman
- Open-Ephys IncAtlantaUnited States
- Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeUnited States
| | - Enrique HS Toloza
- Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeUnited States
- Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeUnited States
- Harvard Medical SchoolBostonUnited States
| | - Norma J Brown
- Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeUnited States
| | - Pranav Murugan
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeUnited States
| | - Mark T Harnett
- Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeUnited States
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10
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Sharpe MJ. The cognitive (lateral) hypothalamus. Trends Cogn Sci 2024; 28:18-29. [PMID: 37758590 PMCID: PMC10841673 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.08.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Revised: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
Despite the physiological complexity of the hypothalamus, its role is typically restricted to initiation or cessation of innate behaviors. For example, theories of lateral hypothalamus argue that it is a switch to turn feeding 'on' and 'off' as dictated by higher-order structures that render when feeding is appropriate. However, recent data demonstrate that the lateral hypothalamus is critical for learning about food-related cues. Furthermore, the lateral hypothalamus opposes learning about information that is neutral or distal to food. This reveals the lateral hypothalamus as a unique arbitrator of learning capable of shifting behavior toward or away from important events. This has relevance for disorders characterized by changes in this balance, including addiction and schizophrenia. Generally, this suggests that hypothalamic function is more complex than increasing or decreasing innate behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa J Sharpe
- Department of Psychology, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia; Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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11
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Blanco-Hernández E, Balsamo G, Preston-Ferrer P, Burgalossi A. Sensory and behavioral modulation of thalamic head-direction cells. Nat Neurosci 2024; 27:28-33. [PMID: 38177338 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01506-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024]
Abstract
Head-direction (HD) neurons are thought to exclusively encode directional heading. In awake mice, we found that sensory stimuli evoked robust short-latency responses in thalamic HD cells, but not in non-HD neurons. The activity of HD cells, but not that of non-HD neurons, was tightly correlated to brain-state fluctuations and dynamically modulated during social interactions. These data point to a new role for the thalamic compass in relaying sensory and behavioral-state information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo Blanco-Hernández
- Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Werner-Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Giuseppe Balsamo
- Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Werner-Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Tübingen, Germany
- Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, IMPRS, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Patricia Preston-Ferrer
- Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
- Werner-Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Andrea Burgalossi
- Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
- Werner-Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Tübingen, Germany.
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12
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Brown LS, Cho JR, Bolkan SS, Nieh EH, Schottdorf M, Tank DW, Brody CD, Witten IB, Goldman MS. Neural circuit models for evidence accumulation through choice-selective sequences. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.09.01.555612. [PMID: 38234715 PMCID: PMC10793437 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.01.555612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
Decision making is traditionally thought to be mediated by populations of neurons whose firing rates persistently accumulate evidence across time. However, recent decision-making experiments in rodents have observed neurons across the brain that fire sequentially as a function of spatial position or time, rather than persistently, with the subset of neurons in the sequence depending on the animal's choice. We develop two new candidate circuit models, in which evidence is encoded either in the relative firing rates of two competing chains of neurons or in the network location of a stereotyped pattern ("bump") of neural activity. Encoded evidence is then faithfully transferred between neuronal populations representing different positions or times. Neural recordings from four different brain regions during a decision-making task showed that, during the evidence accumulation period, different brain regions displayed tuning curves consistent with different candidate models for evidence accumulation. This work provides mechanistic models and potential neural substrates for how graded-value information may be precisely accumulated within and transferred between neural populations, a set of computations fundamental to many cognitive operations.
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13
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Beetz MJ, El Jundi B. The neurobiology of the Monarch butterfly compass. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2023; 60:101109. [PMID: 37660836 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2023.101109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Revised: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) have become a superb model system to unravel how the tiny insect brain controls an impressive navigation behavior, such as long-distance migration. Moreover, the ability to compare the neural substrate between migratory and nonmigratory Monarch butterflies provides us with an attractive model to specifically study how the insect brain is adapted for migration. We here review our current progress on the neural substrate of spatial orientation in Monarch butterflies and how their spectacular annual migration might be controlled by their brain. We also discuss open research questions, the answers to which will provide important missing pieces to obtain a full picture of insect migration - from the perception of orientation cues to the neural control of migration.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Jerome Beetz
- Zoology II, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Basil El Jundi
- Animal Physiology, Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
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14
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Lee CH, Park YK, Lee K. Recent strategies for neural dynamics observation at a larger scale and wider scope. Biosens Bioelectron 2023; 240:115638. [PMID: 37647685 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2023.115638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2023] [Revised: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
Abstract
The tremendous technical progress in neuroscience offers opportunities to observe a more minor or/and broader dynamic picture of the brain. Moreover, the large-scale neural activity of individual neurons enables the dissection of detailed mechanistic links between neural populations and behaviors. To measure neural activity in-vivo, multi-neuron recording, and neuroimaging techniques are employed and developed to acquire more neurons. The tools introduced concurrently recorded dozens to hundreds of neurons in the coordinated brain regions and elucidated the neuronal ensembles from a massive population perspective of diverse neurons at cellular resolution. In particular, the increasing spatiotemporal resolution of neuronal monitoring across the whole brain dramatically facilitates our understanding of additional nervous system functions in health and disease. Here, we will introduce state-of-the-art neuroscience tools involving large-scale neural population recording and the long-range connections spanning multiple brain regions. Their synergic effects provide to clarify the controversial circuitry underlying neuroscience. These challenging neural tools present a promising outlook for the fundamental dynamic interplay across levels of synaptic cellular, circuit organization, and brain-wide. Hence, more observations of neural dynamics will provide more clues to elucidate brain functions and push forward innovative technology at the intersection of neural engineering disciplines. We hope this review will provide insight into the use or development of recent neural techniques considering spatiotemporal scales of brain observation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chang Hak Lee
- Department of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology (DGIST), Daegu, South Korea
| | - Young Kwon Park
- Department of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology (DGIST), Daegu, South Korea
| | - Kwang Lee
- Department of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology (DGIST), Daegu, South Korea.
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15
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Zhao H, Yang S, Fung CCA. Short-term postsynaptic plasticity facilitates predictive tracking in continuous attractors. Front Comput Neurosci 2023; 17:1231924. [PMID: 38024449 PMCID: PMC10652417 DOI: 10.3389/fncom.2023.1231924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) plays a critical role in synaptic transmission and is associated with various neurological and psychiatric disorders. Recently, a novel form of postsynaptic plasticity known as NMDAR-based short-term postsynaptic plasticity (STPP) has been identified. It has been suggested that long-lasting glutamate binding to NMDAR allows for the retention of input information in brain slices up to 500 ms, leading to response facilitation. However, the impact of STPP on the dynamics of neuronal populations remains unexplored. Methods In this study, we incorporated STPP into a continuous attractor neural network (CANN) model to investigate its effects on neural information encoding in populations of neurons. Unlike short-term facilitation, a form of presynaptic plasticity, the temporally enhanced synaptic efficacy resulting from STPP destabilizes the network state of the CANN by increasing its mobility. Results Our findings demonstrate that the inclusion of STPP in the CANN model enables the network state to predictively respond to a moving stimulus. This nontrivial dynamical effect facilitates the tracking of the anticipated stimulus, as the enhanced synaptic efficacy induced by STPP enhances the system's mobility. Discussion The discovered STPP-based mechanism for sensory prediction provides valuable insights into the potential development of brain-inspired computational algorithms for prediction. By elucidating the role of STPP in neural population dynamics, this study expands our understanding of the functional implications of NMDAR-related plasticity in information processing within the brain. Conclusion The incorporation of STPP into a CANN model highlights its influence on the mobility and predictive capabilities of neural networks. These findings contribute to our knowledge of STPP-based mechanisms and their potential applications in developing computational algorithms for sensory prediction.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sungchil Yang
- Department of Neuroscience, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Chi Chung Alan Fung
- Department of Neuroscience, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
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16
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Langdon C, Genkin M, Engel TA. A unifying perspective on neural manifolds and circuits for cognition. Nat Rev Neurosci 2023; 24:363-377. [PMID: 37055616 PMCID: PMC11058347 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-023-00693-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 04/15/2023]
Abstract
Two different perspectives have informed efforts to explain the link between the brain and behaviour. One approach seeks to identify neural circuit elements that carry out specific functions, emphasizing connectivity between neurons as a substrate for neural computations. Another approach centres on neural manifolds - low-dimensional representations of behavioural signals in neural population activity - and suggests that neural computations are realized by emergent dynamics. Although manifolds reveal an interpretable structure in heterogeneous neuronal activity, finding the corresponding structure in connectivity remains a challenge. We highlight examples in which establishing the correspondence between low-dimensional activity and connectivity has been possible, unifying the neural manifold and circuit perspectives. This relationship is conspicuous in systems in which the geometry of neural responses mirrors their spatial layout in the brain, such as the fly navigational system. Furthermore, we describe evidence that, in systems in which neural responses are heterogeneous, the circuit comprises interactions between activity patterns on the manifold via low-rank connectivity. We suggest that unifying the manifold and circuit approaches is important if we are to be able to causally test theories about the neural computations that underlie behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Langdon
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA
| | - Mikhail Genkin
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA
| | - Tatiana A Engel
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA.
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17
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Ying J, Reboreda A, Yoshida M, Brandon MP. Grid cell disruption in a mouse model of early Alzheimer's disease reflects reduced integration of self-motion cues. Curr Biol 2023:S0960-9822(23)00547-X. [PMID: 37220744 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2023] [Revised: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Converging evidence from human and rodent studies suggests that disrupted grid cell coding in the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) underlies path integration behavioral deficits during early Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, grid cell firing relies on both self-motion cues and environmental features, and it remains unclear whether disrupted grid coding can account for specific path integration deficits reported during early AD. Here, we report in the J20 transgenic amyloid beta (Aβ) mouse model of early AD that grid cells were spatially unstable toward the center of the arena, had qualitatively different spatial components that aligned parallel to the borders of the environment, and exhibited impaired integration of distance traveled via reduced theta phase precession. Our results suggest that disrupted early AD grid coding reflects reduced integration of self-motion cues but not environmental information via geometric boundaries, providing evidence that grid cell impairments underlie path integration deficits during early AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johnson Ying
- Department of Psychiatry, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, McGill University, Montreal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada; Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada
| | - Antonio Reboreda
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg 39120, Germany; Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), Magdeburg 39120, Germany
| | - Motoharu Yoshida
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg 39120, Germany; Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), Magdeburg 39120, Germany; Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences (CBBS), Magdeburg 39106, Germany
| | - Mark P Brandon
- Department of Psychiatry, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, McGill University, Montreal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada; Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada.
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