Frontiers in Neural Circuits最新文献

{"title":"The choroid plexus- cerebrospinal fluid axis as a lifespan regulator of neural stem cells and circuit plasticity.","authors":"Kelren S Rodrigues, Rie Yamashita, Sayako Katada","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1818927","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2026.1818927","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The choroid plexus-cerebrospinal fluid axis (ChP-CSF) functions as a dynamic signaling system that coordinates neural stem cell (NSC) behavior and neural circuit plasticity across the lifespan. Beyond its classical roles in cushioning the brain, CSF serves as a regulated conduit for growth factors, ions, extracellular vesicles, and other bioactive molecules. Emerging evidence suggests that the ChP contributes to shaping CSF composition through energy-dependent transport and state-responsive secretion. Ventricular-contacting NSCs sense CSF cues via apical endfeet and primary cilia, integrating signals to regulate their behavior. Lifespan-dependent remodeling of CSF composition and niche architecture reshapes NSC function from embryonic expansion to adult homeostasis and age-associated decline. Beyond the ventricular niche, ChP-derived factors influence circuit maturation and vulnerability to neurodegeneration. Orthodenticle homeobox 2 regulates critical period timing and neuroblast integration, whereas apolipoprotein E couples lipid metabolisms and amyloid-β homeostasis to neurogenesis with Alzheimer's disease risk. Additional ChP-secreted proteins, including transthyretin and clusterin, further shape the extracellular proteostatic and lipid environment. Together, these findings support the view of the ChP-CSF axis as an adaptive regulator across the lifespan that integrates stem cell dynamics, circuit plasticity, and neurodegenerative susceptibility.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"20 ","pages":"1818927"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13143848/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147836382","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}

{"title":"Post-ischemic modification of neurogenesis and oligodendrogenesis in rodent models.","authors":"Yoshihide Sehara, Shinya Mochizuki, Reiji Yamazaki","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1803118","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2026.1803118","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neurogenesis and oligodendrogenesis occur throughout life under both physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Brain insults such as ischemia, trauma, epilepsy, or Alzheimer disease result in the promotion of neurogenesis and oligodendrogenesis; however, the mechanisms and the roles of this promotion are not well elucidated. Neurogenesis occurs in two distinct regions in the brain, namely, the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the lateral ventricle and the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the dentate gyrus. Neural stem cells (NSCs) have the potential to self-renew, proliferate, and differentiate into various cell types. NSCs in the SVZ migrate toward the site of injury, and those in the SGZ migrate toward the granule cell layer after ischemic insult. Numerous animal experiments have shown that inhibition of post-ischemic neurogenesis both in the SVZ and the dentate gyrus impairs functional recovery. Oligodendrogenesis regenerates myelin around demyelinated axons after white matter injury, thus promoting functional recovery after ischemia. Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells derived from NSCs and progenitor cells of the SVZ and from intrinsic cells from other brain regions proliferate at the demyelinated lesions. However, deposition of extracellular matrices, including chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans, hyaluronan, fibronectin, and fibrinogen, have been reported to inhibit remyelination. Furthermore, our data showed that type I collagen was deposited in the white matter lesions of stroke patients, and that it may inhibit oligodendrocyte differentiation in these lesions. In this review, we focus on the mechanisms and the roles of post-ischemic neurogenesis and oligodendrogenesis based on recently published data of mainly rodent models.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"20 ","pages":"1803118"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13128563/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147813431","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}

{"title":"Task-dependent increases and decreases of BOLD signal in theory of mind brain regions during strategic social interaction.","authors":"Maya Zheltyakova, Maxim Kireev, Irina Knyazeva, Artem Myznikov, Vladimir Kiselev, Mikhail Didur, Denis Cherednichenko, Alexander Korotkov","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1741762","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2026.1741762","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Theory of Mind (ToM) is known as the capacity to infer others' thoughts, intentions, and emotions, supported by a distributed neural brain network, including the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), temporoparietal junction (TPJ), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and precuneus. Although the Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS) game is used to study the cognitive ToM domain, previous fMRI studies had methodological limitations, including lack of appropriate control conditions and the absence of analyses addressing the directionality of BOLD signal changes. The present fMRI study employed a modified RPS paradigm designed to overcome these limitations. Forty-six healthy adults performed the RPS game and a control task. Whole-brain analyses contrasted neural activity and task-modulated functional connectivity (TMFC) between these conditions and examined BOLD signal changes relative to baseline. In contrast to prior findings of BOLD signal suppression below baseline in affective ToM tasks, RPS elicited increased BOLD responses in canonical ToM regions, including the mPFC, bilateral TPJ, IFG, and precuneus, as well as additional frontal, cingulate and visual regions. TMFC analyses converged with these findings, demonstrating increased RPS-related functional interactions between the bilateral TPJ and precuneus with the left IFG, and between the mPFC and the right TPJ with the right IFG. Additionally, greater deactivation (negative BOLD deflection) below baseline during RPS was observed in the midcingulate cortex and opercular regions bilaterally. These findings extend current understanding of ToM network functioning by demonstrating that the engagement of its affective and cognitive domains manifest through TMFC changes and directionally distinct neural responses.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"20 ","pages":"1741762"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13099858/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147768190","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}

{"title":"Disruption of afferent neural circuits leads to arrhythmia in the animal model of hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy 6.","authors":"Nozomu Yoshioka, Masayuki Kurose, Kazuki Tainaka, Takako Ichiki, Yousuke Tsuneoka, Hiromasa Funato, Masaki Ueno, Hayato Ohshima, Ikuo Kageyama, Hirohide Takebayashi","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1777115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2026.1777115","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies (HSANs) are a group of recessive genetic disorders affecting the sensory and autonomic components of the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Compared with somatosensory dysfunctions, the pathogenesis of visceral dysfunction in HSANs remains understudied. This study investigated the neural circuit mechanisms underlying the arrhythmias observed in conditional Dystonin (<i>Dst</i>) gene-trap mice, an animal model of HSAN type VI (HSAN-VI) in which Cre recombinase inactivates <i>Dst</i> expression in selective neural circuits. Inactivation of the <i>Dst</i> gene in PNS neurons using <i>Advillin-Cre</i> caused the degeneration of sensory and sympathetic ganglionic neurons. This was accompanied by arrhythmia, characterized by increased heart rate variability and irregular pulse frequency, which was prominent under isoflurane anesthesia and occurred in the absence of protein aggregate cardiomyopathy. Furthermore, selective inactivation of the <i>Dst</i> gene in PNS sensory neurons using <i>Vglut2-Cre</i> resulted in similar dysregulation of cardiac rhythm. These findings suggest that arrhythmias caused by <i>Dst</i> mutations arise from the disruption of visceral afferent circuits, and that these neural circuits could be potential therapeutic targets for visceral dysfunction in HSAN-VI.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"20 ","pages":"1777115"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13099889/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147768171","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}

{"title":"Oxytocin modulation of the insular cortex: implications for social cognition and neurodevelopmental disorders.","authors":"Shuhei Fujima, Masaaki Sato","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1791625","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2026.1791625","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Social cognition relies on the integration of sensory information, emotional cues, and internal bodily signals to guide behavior toward others. The insular cortex (IC) is anatomically and functionally well positioned to support this integration, as it receives interoceptive input and connects sensory, limbic, and autonomic systems. Accumulating evidence across species suggests that the IC contributes to social behavior through at least two complementary modes of processing: emotional mirroring, which links observed social cues to internal affective states, and contextual modulation, which adjusts social behavior according to familiarity, prior experience, and internal state. In this Mini Review, we discuss how neuromodulatory systems shape these modes of IC processing, with a particular focus on oxytocin (OXT). In rodents, OXT signaling within the IC influences social affective behaviors under specific social conditions, whereas human studies report heterogeneous and context-dependent effects of OXT on IC activity. Altered IC function and OXT signaling have also been implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by social deficits, including autism spectrum disorder. We propose that OXT modulates IC function in a context- and state-dependent manner, shaping social cognition by influencing how interoceptive, emotional, and contextual information is integrated.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"20 ","pages":"1791625"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13066175/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147672320","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}

{"title":"Clarifying the neural circuit mechanisms of spontaneous social behavior in macaques.","authors":"Taihei Ninomiya, Takaaki Kaneko, Yuzuha Ono, Kenta Kobayashi, Masaki Isoda","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1783133","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2026.1783133","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Research using nonhuman primates has investigated how the brain processes and represents a wide range of socially relevant information, such as others' faces, actions and rewards. While our understanding has expanded considerably in recent years, much of the research has been conducted under highly controlled task conditions, leaving the neural underpinnings of naturally occurring social behaviors largely unexplored. In this Perspective, we first highlight recent efforts utilizing freely behaving primates to overcome these challenges. We then detail our own experiments, demonstrating how the combined use of behavioral analysis and neural manipulation techniques in freely moving macaques enabled us to identify a specific neural circuit critical for the spontaneous expression of mounting behavior. These strategies offer novel opportunities to validate and extend established knowledge concerning the neural basis of social behavior in experimental settings that more closely resemble those occurring in a real world.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"20 ","pages":"1783133"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13057529/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147644814","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}

{"title":"Ascending propriospinal modulation of thoracic sympathetic preganglionic neurons during lumbar locomotor activity.","authors":"Lucia E Dominguez-Rodriguez, Chioma V Nwachukwu, Narjes Shahsavani, Juanita Garcia, Jeremy W Chopek, Kristine C Cowley","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1738731","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2026.1738731","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although the autonomic sympathetic system is activated in parallel with locomotion, the underlying neural mechanisms mediating this coordination are not completely understood. Descending exercise or \"central command\" signals from hypothalamic and brainstem regions are thought to activate thoracic spinal sympathetic neurons in parallel with descending locomotor commands. In turn, subsets of thoracic sympathetic preganglionic neurons (SPNs) increase activity in a constellation of tissues and organs that provide homeostatic and metabolic support during movement and exercise. It is known that ascending drive from lumbar locomotor networks is mediated in part via propriospinal neurons that can also activate and coordinate autonomic systems. However, the extent to which this ascending drive is distributed to SPNs within thoracic regions is unknown. To investigate this, we applied neurochemicals to elicit whole-cord or lumbar-evoked locomotor activity in an <i>in vitro</i> spinal cord preparation, simultaneously recording lumbar ventral root (VR) activity and changes in normalized calcium fluorescence (Ca-RI) of pre-labelled SPNs in thoracic segments. Using whole-bath drug application SPN responses appeared unimodal, such that SPN Ca-RI was increased in rostral (T4-FT7) compared to caudal (T8-T11) segments during tonic activity. During rhythmic activity in either whole or split-bath configuration, and during tonic activity in split-bath configuration, SPN responses appeared trimodal, such that SPN Ca-RI was increased in mid-thoracic segments (T6-7) and reduced at more rostral (T4-5) and caudal (T8-9) levels. In both approaches, the greatest increases in SPNs Ca-RI during rhythmic activity were at T6-7, and most decreased at caudal segments (T8-T11). Together, these findings reveal a strong ascending lumbar to thoracic integrating communication pathway, which may represent a key feature of spinal neural network function normally. Such communication pathways should be further investigated for targeted autonomic function(s) activation and therapeutic benefit after spinal cord injury.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"20 ","pages":"1738731"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13047744/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147622459","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}

{"title":"The circuitry regulation of associative learning: dissociated and integrated function of the perirhinal cortex and hippocampus.","authors":"Jingyi Zhang, Xiaohui Zhang","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1789080","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2026.1789080","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The formation of associations, which involves binding disparate pieces of information, is fundamental to constructing episodic memory. This process primarily relies on the neural circuitry within the medial temporal lobe, specifically the hippocampal-parahippocampal network. Within this network, the perirhinal cortex (PER) and the hippocampus (HPC) are recognized as essential components for associative processing. While the traditional dual-pathway model depicts a hierarchically organized, sequential transmission of information along the medial temporal lobe, recent anatomical and functional studies reveal that the PER and HPC are embedded within a far more extensive and complex multi-pathway connectivity architecture. These connections enable parallel and dynamic interactions between PER, HPC, and other medial temporal lobe structures, supporting flexible modes of information processing and integration essential for associative learning. This review systematically re-evaluates the roles of the PER and HPC in associative learning. We begin by advancing the view that the PER acts not as a passive sensory gateway, but as an associative hub for multimodal association formation, whose special local inhibition provides the computational foundation for integrating complex information of both object features, and spatiotemporal context or affective valence. Building on this perspective, we then synthesize evidence on the dynamic interactions between the PER and HPC, encompassing findings from extensive anatomical and electrophysiological studies. Finally, we focus on the HPC, elucidating how it precisely coordinates information from the PER and other regions, with a particular emphasis on the critical regulatory roles played by inhibitory neurons in this integrative process. The reciprocal neuronal connections, coherent neuronal oscillatory activities and shared neuromodulation in the PER-HPC circuit facilitate the integration of associative learning.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"20 ","pages":"1789080"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13036114/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147591459","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}

{"title":"Editorial: Chemical senses in health and disease.","authors":"Carla Mucignat-Caretta, Sachiko Koyama, Vera V Voznessenskaya","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1782975","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2026.1782975","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"20 ","pages":"1782975"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13036177/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147591475","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}

{"title":"From small brains to smart machines: translating <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> neural circuits into artificial intelligence.","authors":"He Liu, Panpan Zheng, Xuebin Wang","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1731513","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1731513","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The hermaphroditic <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>, with its fully mapped connectome of 302 neurons, offers a paradigmatic example of how a minimal nervous system governs biotic, adaptive, and context-dependent behaviors. In contrast, modern artificial intelligence systems achieve intelligence through scale rather than efficiency, relying instead on massive datasets and artificially engineered architectures. This mini-review explores how <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> neural circuits can inform the development of more efficient and flexible artificial neural networks. We highlight recent studies that translate the principles inherent to <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> neural circuits into artificial neural network architectures, with applications in machine control and image classification, resulting in enhanced robustness and improved performance. By distilling neural principles from the simplest known nervous system, this mini-review outlines a pathway toward compact, adaptive, and biologically inspired artificial intelligence systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"20 ","pages":"1731513"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13006640/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147511196","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}