eNeuroPub Date : 2026-10-20DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0104-25.2025
Yoshinori Nanjo, David Aguilar-Lleyda
{"title":"Neural mechanisms underlying metacognitive processes in sequential decision-making.","authors":"Yoshinori Nanjo, David Aguilar-Lleyda","doi":"10.1523/ENEURO.0104-25.2025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0104-25.2025","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Self-monitoring in decision-making is a hallmark of self-improvement in cognitive processes. To enhance outcomes in future decisions, individuals must accurately assess the correctness of prior choices and apply the information to control subsequent decisions. Although metacognition encompasses monitoring and control functions, the neural mechanisms underlying these processes and their relationships remain unclear. Furthermore, while the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is implicated in both functions, their distinct neural substrates and interrelations require further elucidation. In this study, we employed a sequential perceptual decision-making task with confidence ratings to examine how initial confidence influences subsequent decisions while recording neural activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Subjects (female and male) performed a visual discrimination of two different-sized stimuli and subsequently rated their decision confidence. Behavioral results showed that subjects were more likely to change their choices between initial and subsequent decisions according to confidence levels. A signature of confidence (confidence magnitude) in initial decisions was observed primarily in the anterior medial PFC (amPFC). In contrast, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) exhibited higher neural activity related to changes of their initial choice at subsequent decisions. Furthermore, the pregenual ACC (pgACC) was associated with both processes, and it exhibited effective connectivity with the amPFC and dACC. These findings suggest that the medial PFC plays a role in integrating metacognitive monitoring and subsequent control in the sequential decision-making processes.<b>Significance Statement</b> Metacognition, encompassing monitoring and control, is fundamental to self-regulation and sequential decision-making. Despite their distinct roles, the neural mechanisms of how monitoring connects to subsequent control remain unclear. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we reveal distinct yet interconnected medial prefrontal regions that support metacognitive processes. Specifically, the anterior medial prefrontal cortex encodes confidence in initial decisions, while the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex supports changes of mind. Effective connectivity analysis indicates that the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex integrates these processes. These findings advance our understanding of medial prefrontal mechanisms underlying adaptive self-regulation, with implications for addressing disorders characterized by impaired behavioral control.</p>","PeriodicalId":11617,"journal":{"name":"eNeuro","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149227486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
eNeuroPub Date : 2026-10-20Print Date: 2026-10-01DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0310-26.2026
Mihaela D Iordanova
{"title":"<i>eNeuro</i> Assessments: A Standardized Way to Communicate Research Quality.","authors":"Mihaela D Iordanova","doi":"10.1523/ENEURO.0310-26.2026","DOIUrl":"10.1523/ENEURO.0310-26.2026","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11617,"journal":{"name":"eNeuro","volume":"13 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13682799/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149227535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
eNeuroPub Date : 2026-10-16DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0182-26.2026
Ja Eun Choi, Yoon Kyoung Kim, Yongmin Sung, Dong Il Choi, Jooyoung Kim, Chaery Lee, Jisu Lee, Nam-Kyung Yu, Han Kyoung Choe, Bong-Kiun Kaang
{"title":"Oxytocin signaling bidirectionally modulates serotonergic and dopaminergic neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus.","authors":"Ja Eun Choi, Yoon Kyoung Kim, Yongmin Sung, Dong Il Choi, Jooyoung Kim, Chaery Lee, Jisu Lee, Nam-Kyung Yu, Han Kyoung Choe, Bong-Kiun Kaang","doi":"10.1523/ENEURO.0182-26.2026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0182-26.2026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The involvement of oxytocin in social behavior is well established, yet its interaction with neuromodulatory systems, such as serotonin and dopamine, remains incompletely understood. Here, we utilized immunohistochemistry, anatomical tracing, chemogenetic, and ex vivo electrophysiological approaches primarily in male mice, with female mice used only for an additional anatomical tracing control experiment, investigate how oxytocin modulates serotonergic and dopaminergic neuronal populations. Employing the dual-eGRASP tool, we visualized oxytocinergic projections from the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) to the serotonergic and dopaminergic neurons in dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN). Blocking oxytocin receptors in the DRN attenuated social interaction behavior. Additionally, analysis of c-Fos levels and neuronal excitability revealed that oxytocin inhibits serotonergic neurons while activating dopaminergic neurons in the DRN. Our findings suggest a bidirectional regulatory role of oxytocin signaling in the DRN serotonergic and dopaminergic neurons.<b>Significance Statement</b> Social behavior relies on interactions among neuromodulatory systems, yet how oxytocin communicates with serotonin and dopamine circuits remains unclear. We identify the DRN as a functionally relevant target of hypothalamic oxytocin neurons during social approach. Using dual-eGRASP, we visualize contacts from PVN oxytocin neurons onto both serotonergic and dopaminergic DRN. Blocking oxytocin receptors in the DRN reduces social interaction without affecting locomotion. Moreover, oxytocin suppresses serotonergic neuronal activity while increasing dopaminergic neuronal activation, revealing opposing control of two prosocial neuromodulatory populations within the same region. These findings provide a circuit framework for how oxytocin coordinates social behavior through bidirectional modulation of dorsal raphe neuromodulators.</p>","PeriodicalId":11617,"journal":{"name":"eNeuro","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149206528","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
eNeuroPub Date : 2026-10-16DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0146-26.2026
Nina Curko, Rosalie Samide, Valentina Krenz, Elizabeth A Kensinger, Maureen Ritchey
{"title":"Remembered event features shape default mode network engagement during emotional memory recall.","authors":"Nina Curko, Rosalie Samide, Valentina Krenz, Elizabeth A Kensinger, Maureen Ritchey","doi":"10.1523/ENEURO.0146-26.2026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0146-26.2026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Episodic memory involves reconstruction of past events through integration of multiple types of information, including perceptual details, narrative content, and emotional tone. The default mode network (DMN) is a set of regions thought to support episodic retrieval, yet it remains unclear how distinct subnetworks contribute to recall of these different memory features. Here, we examined how DMN subnetworks support and represent memory for naturalistic emotional events. Male and female human participants encoded short news videos that varied in emotional valence and recalled them in response to neutral cues during functional MRI scanning. Videos were again recalled one day later and memories were scored for perceptual and narrative details. Activity in the dorsomedial subnetwork was related to the emotional valence of the memory, while activity in the medial temporal subnetwork was associated with the number of perceptual details recalled. Multivariate pattern analyses further revealed that the medial temporal subnetwork exhibited greater pattern stability across recalls when recalling more perceptual details, while stability in the dorsomedial and core subnetworks was tied to emotional remembering. Our findings suggest that the dorsomedial subnetwork provides an affective frame for a memory, while the medial temporal subnetwork contributes perceptual specificity. These results demonstrate that the contents of memory retrieval shape network engagement during emotional recall, providing insight into how the brain reconstructs complex real-world experiences.<b>Significance Statement</b> How do we remember the emotional tone of an event versus its visual details? This study examines how distinct subnetworks within the brain's default mode network (DMN) contribute to remembering different features of memory. While the medial temporal subnetwork is connected to retrieving the perceptual details of past events, the dorsomedial subnetwork supports recall of the emotional tone. Furthermore, patterns of activity in the medial temporal subnetwork are more stable when recalling more perceptually rich memories, while stability in the dorsomedial subnetwork is tied to emotional remembering. These findings suggest that the default mode network flexibly responds to different kinds of memory features, supporting the reconstruction of rich emotional memories from complex real-world experiences.</p>","PeriodicalId":11617,"journal":{"name":"eNeuro","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149206604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Asymmetric Synaptic Plasticity Provides an Attractor-Based Mechanism for <i>θ</i>-<i>γ</i> Coupling and Pathological Synchronization.","authors":"Hongjie Bi, Bojun Wang, Hongsheng Deng, Changhai Tian, Xiyun Zhang","doi":"10.1523/ENEURO.0111-26.2026","DOIUrl":"10.1523/ENEURO.0111-26.2026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Short-term synaptic plasticity continuously reshapes the balance between excitation and inhibition, yet most population models assume that excitatory and inhibitory synapses share similar short-term dynamics. Experimental studies, however, have shown that inhibitory synapses typically exhibit stronger short-term depression (STD) than recurrent excitatory connections. Here, we investigate how this cell-type-specific asymmetry influences cortical population dynamics by combining a neural mass model with large-scale spiking network simulations. We show that asymmetric inhibitory STD qualitatively changes the attractor structure of the network, generating a bistable regime that is absent under the conventional symmetric assumption. Within this regime, endogenous finite-size fluctuations drive spontaneous transitions between a stable focus and a stable limit cycle, giving rise to metastable dynamics. The asymmetric paradigm exhibits <i>θ</i>-<i>γ</i> phase-amplitude coupling of strength similar to that of the symmetric one, although it arises from fundamentally different dynamics. We further show that slowing synaptic recovery progressively eliminates this bistable regime, leading to persistent hypersynchronous oscillations and reduced phase-amplitude coupling. These results identify asymmetric inhibitory STD as a mechanism that reshapes cortical attractor dynamics and suggest how altered synaptic recovery may contribute to pathological network activity.</p>","PeriodicalId":11617,"journal":{"name":"eNeuro","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149059359","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
eNeuroPub Date : 2026-10-15DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0394-25.2026
Zoltan Soltesz, Viviane Sgm Tenorio, Takamichi Tohyama, Anne Me Baker, Stuart N Baker, Alexander Kraskov
{"title":"ACORN: Adaptive Consensus of Repeated Clusterings identifies pyramidal neurons and interneurons in the primate motor cortex based on extracellular spike waveforms.","authors":"Zoltan Soltesz, Viviane Sgm Tenorio, Takamichi Tohyama, Anne Me Baker, Stuart N Baker, Alexander Kraskov","doi":"10.1523/ENEURO.0394-25.2026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0394-25.2026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Understanding how neural circuits generate behaviour requires knowledge of both neural activity patterns and the cell types they originate from. While the scale of neuronal recordings has dramatically increased since the advent of dense multicontact probes, accurate identification of cell types remains elusive. Traditional approaches have used spike width to attempt a classification, with narrow spikes assumed to be inhibitory interneurons. However, fast pyramidal tract neurons (PTNs, known to be excitatory) with thin spikes and interneurons with wide spikes challenge these assumptions. Here we accomplish three related objectives. First, we produce a ground truth dataset of extracellular spike shapes from electrophysiologically identified pyramidal neurons from primary (M1) and supplementary motor areas (SMA) and optogenetically identified interneurons in M1 in female macaque monkeys. Next, we show that spike width correlates with antidromic latency not only in M1 but also in the SMA, suggesting that it is a physiologically meaningful measure across the motor cortex. Finally, we introduce our unsupervised ensemble clustering method, \"ACORN\", and characterise its performance on our neocortical macaque dataset, the C4 cerebellar database, and a juxtacellularly recorded mouse dataset, demonstrating strong out-of-the-box performance across species, brain areas, and recording techniques. ACORN can cluster neuronal waveforms without training or tuning, and provides data-derived confidence values for its predictions. Our ground truth data can be used as a reference to help identify or verify clusters in novel datasets. Together, our method and database provide a streamlined foundation for electrophysiological cell classification without necessitating changes to recording paradigms.<b>Significance Statement</b> High-density extracellular recordings are increasingly the norm in neuroscience, but accurate and non-invasive identification of cells remains a challenge. Here we provide a database of action potential spike shapes from pyramidal tract neurons and interneurons of the macaque supplementary motor area, whose identities we verified using nerve stimulation and optogenetics, respectively. We introduce the neuron clustering method \"ACORN\", and showcase its robustness by evaluating its performance on a variety of distinct datasets. Our training-free clustering technique is designed to support experimentalists, while our ground truth database can enhance and validate future datasets and method development.</p>","PeriodicalId":11617,"journal":{"name":"eNeuro","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149192160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
eNeuroPub Date : 2026-10-15Print Date: 2026-10-01DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0287-26.2026
Hannah Nicholson
{"title":"From Reward to Cue: Developmental Changes in Nucleus Accumbens and Dopamine Signaling from Adolescence to Adulthood.","authors":"Hannah Nicholson","doi":"10.1523/ENEURO.0287-26.2026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0287-26.2026","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11617,"journal":{"name":"eNeuro","volume":"13 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149192122","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
eNeuroPub Date : 2026-10-15Print Date: 2026-10-01DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0130-26.2026
Bulat Mingazov, Karina Tukhvatullina, Roustem Khazipov, Azat Nasretdinov
{"title":"Scalp EEG and Intrinsic Optical Signal Imaging for Noninvasive Detection of Spreading Depolarizations in the Rat Cortex.","authors":"Bulat Mingazov, Karina Tukhvatullina, Roustem Khazipov, Azat Nasretdinov","doi":"10.1523/ENEURO.0130-26.2026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0130-26.2026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Spreading depolarization (SD) is a slowly propagating wave of massive neuronal and glial depolarization in the cerebral cortex that occurs in various brain diseases. However, noninvasive SD detection remains challenging. Here, we used scalp EEG and intrinsic optical signal (IOS) recordings in rats of both sexes to assess the feasibility of noninvasively detecting high-potassium-induced SDs in the cortex. Scalp EEG failed to detect DC-shifts but revealed a characteristic SD-related depression of AC-EEG activity, while concurrent infrared IOS recordings captured reliable SD-associated signals. Although the magnitudes of AC-EEG depression and IOS signals during scalp recordings were several times smaller than those recorded epidurally, both techniques enabled high-fidelity SD detection. These findings demonstrate that noninvasive monitoring of scalp EEG and infrared IOS imaging reliably detects SDs in the rat cerebral cortex.</p>","PeriodicalId":11617,"journal":{"name":"eNeuro","volume":"13 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149192103","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
eNeuroPub Date : 2026-10-14DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0439-25.2026
Annette Vaglio-Garro, Marco Theuermann, Katharina E Sweis, Sergejs Zavadskis, Márton Kokas, Zsuzsanna Környei, Miriam Karas, Laszlo Tretter, Tímea Komlódi, Adelheid Weidinger, Andrey V Kozlov
{"title":"Toxic concentrations of glutamate induce ferroptosis without affecting mitochondrial respiration in rodent brain slice cultures.","authors":"Annette Vaglio-Garro, Marco Theuermann, Katharina E Sweis, Sergejs Zavadskis, Márton Kokas, Zsuzsanna Környei, Miriam Karas, Laszlo Tretter, Tímea Komlódi, Adelheid Weidinger, Andrey V Kozlov","doi":"10.1523/ENEURO.0439-25.2026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0439-25.2026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Many neuronal disorders are characterized by glutamate toxicity, which is closely associated with mitochondrial and neuronal dysfunction. The aim of this study was to investigate the link between mitochondrial function and mechanisms of cell death induced by glutamate. The study was carried out on male (C57BL/6), male Sprague Dawley acute brain slice (ABSs), male and female organotypic brain slice (BSCs). Mitochondrial respiration, activities of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle enzymes, and the cell death rate (assessed by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and histological analyses) were determined. Memantine was used to inhibit excitotoxicity, while Ferrostatin-1, rosiglitazone and deferoxamine were used as inhibitors of ferroptotic pathway. In astrocytes, pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC) and oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex (OGDHC), showed less than 1% of the enzymatic activity observed in whole brain tissue. In BSCs, glutamate exposure induced a marked increase in oxidative phosphorylation-linked mitochondrial respiration, which was independent of OGDHC activity and disappeared when BSC homogenates were analysed. Glutamate-induced cell death was not alleviated by memantine but was significantly reduced by ferrostatin-1. The activation of ferroptosis by glutamate was also observed in ABSs, as well as the inhibition of lipid peroxidation induced by ferrostatin-1, rosiglitazone and deferoxamine. Ferrostatin-1, and rosiglitazone additionally inhibited cell death, while deferoxamine did not. The unusual response to deferoxamine requires further elucidation. In summary, our data suggest that elevated glutamate levels enhance neuronal energy metabolism in brain slices, compensating glutamate-mediated Ca²⁺ influx and reduce excitotoxicity. In contrast, persistently elevated levels of extracellular glutamate impair the cystine/glutamate antiporter, leading to ferroptosis.<b>Significance Statement</b> Excessive extracellular glutamate is a hallmark of many neurodegenerative and ischemic conditions. This study reveals that toxic glutamate concentrations in BSCs, modelling brain tissue, intensify neuronal energy metabolism without rescuing cells from death, shifting the predominant mechanism from excitotoxicity to ferroptosis. Such phenomenon was not observed in studies on neuronal cell cultures, also including our previous studies. These results suggest that targeting ferroptosis may offer therapeutic potential in neuronal disorders traditionally attributed to excitotoxic damage.</p>","PeriodicalId":11617,"journal":{"name":"eNeuro","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149180033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
eNeuroPub Date : 2026-10-13DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0177-26.2026
Alejandra Gomez, Aric F Logsdon, Jeremy D Bailoo, Gail A Cornwall
{"title":"Altered Brain Extracellular Matrix Structure and Sex-Specific Learning/Memory Dysfunction in Mice Lacking the Functional Amyloid Cystatin-Related Epididymal Spermatogenic (CRES).","authors":"Alejandra Gomez, Aric F Logsdon, Jeremy D Bailoo, Gail A Cornwall","doi":"10.1523/ENEURO.0177-26.2026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0177-26.2026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The brain's extracellular matrix (ECM) is highly specialized and unique. Unlike the collagen-rich matrices found in other tissues, it consists of complex proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans that play critical roles in neuroplasticity including the integration and storage of new memories. Cystatin-related epididymal spermatogenic (CRES) is a member of a reproductive subgroup of family 2 cystatins and part of a specialized functional amyloid-containing ECM with host defense functions in the epididymal lumen. CRES and the endogenous epididymal amyloid matrix exhibit high plasticity, forming distinct amyloid structures, with antimicrobial functions tailored to specific bacterial strains. Recent studies show that CRES/CRES amyloid is also present in the mammalian brain ECM and suggest its inherent shape-shifting properties might contribute to neuroplasticity. In this study, we utilized a CRES knockout (KO) mouse model to determine if the loss of CRES altered the structure of the hippocampal and cortical ECM and impacted brain function. We report that CRES KO male and female mice exhibited sex-specific structural changes in both the loose/interstitial and perineuronal net (PNN) ECM. Additionally, young CRES KO males-but not females-displayed deficits in learning, memory and executive functioning when compared to WT controls. In contrast, older CRES KO males did not exhibit behavioral deficits, a finding that correlated with the observation of a similar PNN ECM structure when compared to WT mice. Our data suggest that CRES functions as a regulatory or structural component of the brain ECM, contributing to its sex-specific structural organization and plasticity, affecting sex-specific behaviors of learning and memory.<b>Significance statement</b> Structural changes in the brain ECM drive neuroplasticity that is essential for normal function; however, these same alterations can contribute to neurodegeneration and neurological disorders. Brain ECM structure differs between males and females and promotes sex-specific behaviors; however, the full extent of sex-specific distinctions in ECM structure/function relationships has yet to be elucidated. Using a CRES KO mouse model, we show that the functional amyloid CRES plays a regulatory/structural role in the brain ECM. The loss of CRES resulted in sex differences in loose/interstitial and PNN ECM organization and a male but not female learning and memory deficit. Our studies suggest that CRES/CRES amyloid contributes to ECM neuroplasticity and remodeling processes that drive sex-specific behaviors and possibly sexually dimorphic disease.</p>","PeriodicalId":11617,"journal":{"name":"eNeuro","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149180051","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}