Frontiers in Neural Circuits最新文献

{"title":"Brain mechanisms underlying self-other distinction for bodily self-recognition.","authors":"Yuuki G Oka, Masaki Isoda","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1781653","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1781653","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Accumulating evidence indicates that single neurons in the primate brain specifically encode sensorimotor experience about the self or others. Although the self-other distinction has been a major focus of social neuroscience research, little is known about the underlying mechanisms that enable the recognition of bodily self. Here, we review the literature demonstrating that pre-reflective bodily self-recognition can be achieved through the spatiotemporally contingent integration of visual, somatosensory, and motor signals arising from sensorimotor experience. We propose a self-other inference model as a neural computation for self-other distinction, in which the likelihood of being oneself is updated constantly based on Bayesian causal inference using appearance, contingency, and perspective cues. The results of simulation incorporating a state-space point-process model revealed that our self-other inference model successfully captures the latent state representation about the self-other distinction from synthetic neural activity. We hypothesize that the self-other inference model is implemented by distinct brain areas that process individual cues and their integrative hubs. This hypothesis is experimentally testable using cutting-edge technologies such as area-specific or pathway-selective silencing.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"20 ","pages":"1781653"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12995768/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147485492","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":"Absence of local retinotopy in the mouse optic tract.","authors":"Matteo Tripodi, Hiroki Asari","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1782196","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1782196","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Retinotopy is a fundamental organizational principle of the visual system, where neighboring neurons represent adjacent points in visual space. This spatial relationship is established by precise anatomical wiring across successive areas, e.g., from the retina to the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) to the visual cortex. To examine the precision of this topographic arrangement within the long-range projection axons themselves, we recorded retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons in the mouse optic tract (OT) and mapped their receptive fields (RFs). As expected for a retinotopically organized area, we found that nearby LGN cell pairs had significantly smaller RF distances than distant pairs. In contrast, no such relationship was observed among RGC axons in the OT. Modelling analyses further confirmed that the observed RF distances in the OT were incompatible with any locally retinotopic arrangement. Instead, the OT retained only coarse topography, with ~18° RF deviations or ~40 μm axonal displacements from an ideal retinotopic organization. These results demonstrate that the mouse OT lacks fine-scale retinotopy and maintains only broad topographic structure.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"20 ","pages":"1782196"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12992316/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147480310","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":"Social learning and exploration-exploitation dilemma in decision-making.","authors":"Gota Morishita, Shinsuke Suzuki","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1781811","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1781811","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This mini review examines the neurocomputational principles of social learning through the lens of the exploration-exploitation dilemma. While the neural mechanisms of learning from others-mediated by distinct signals in the ventromedial and lateral prefrontal cortices-are well established, less is known about how these mechanisms interact with the fundamental trade-off between gathering information (\"exploration\") and maximizing rewards (\"exploitation\"). We discuss how social environments shape this trade-off, leading to strategic behaviors such as informational free-riding or conformity. A central focus of this review is the issue of source selection: how agents decide whom to observe. We present recent evidence suggesting that, contrary to the predictions of optimal information-seeking theories, humans often exhibit a \"reliability-seeking\" bias, preferring to learn from consistent, exploitation-oriented partners rather than highly exploratory ones. We conclude by discussing the limitations of current paradigms, specifically the inherent confounding of social cues such as competence and predictability, and outline a computational framework for isolating the specific drivers of adaptive social decision-making.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"20 ","pages":"1781811"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12989571/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147473303","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":"A concise mathematical description of signal transformations across the hippocampal apical CA3 to CA1 dendritic response.","authors":"Sandra Gattas, Aliza A Le, Javad Karimi Abadchi, Ben Pruess, Rohit Amba, Yanning Shen, A Swindlehurst, Michael A Yassa, Gary Lynch","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2025.1545031","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fncir.2025.1545031","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The synapse is the fundamental unit of communication in the nervous system. Determining how information is transferred across the synaptic interface is one of the most complex endeavors in neuroscience, owing to the large number of contributing factors and events. An approach to solving this problem involves collapsing across these complexities to derive concise mathematical formulas that fully capture the governing dynamics of synaptic transmission. We investigated the feasibility of deriving such a formula - an input-output transformation function for the CA3 to CA1 node of the hippocampus - using the Volterra expansion technique for non-linear system identification. The timecourse of the fEPSP in the apical dendrites of mouse brain slices was described with >94% accuracy by a 2nd order equation that captured the linear and non-linear influence of past inputs on current outputs. This function generalized to cases not included in its derivation and uncovered previously undetected timing rules. The basal dendrites expressed a substantially different transfer function and evidence was obtained that, unlike the apical system, a 3rd order system or higher will be needed for complete characterization. At scale, the approach will also provide information needed for the construction of biologically realistic models of brain networks.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"19 ","pages":"1545031"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12935924/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147325565","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 cerebellum engages multiple pre-motor pathways through a divergent-convergent architecture to shape whisker dynamics.","authors":"Staf Bauer, Peipei Zhai, Nathalie van Wingerden, Hehe Zhao, Vincenzo Romano","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2025.1706704","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fncir.2025.1706704","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The cerebellar output can trigger whisker movement through indirect projections that pass via several brainstem pre-motor nuclei before reaching the facial nucleus, which directly controls whisker movements in rodents. Although the central pattern generator function of the intermediate reticular formation has been recently clarified, the roles of the other whisker pre-motor nuclei remain unclear. Here, we set out to compare the whisker movement kinematics of the main pre-motor whisker nuclei connecting the cerebellum and the facial nucleus. We optogenetically stimulated neurons located in the cerebellar cortex: Purkinje cells (PCs), the cerebellar nuclei (CN), the red nucleus (RN), the superior colliculus (SC), the spinal trigeminal nucleus (SV), and the reticular formation (RF); in head-fixed awake mice while monitoring the bilateral whisker movement. We show that optogenetic stimulation of the RN, SC, and SV resulted in a predominant midpoint change, whereas optogenetic stimulation of the PCs, CN, and RF resulted in faster whisker movements. In addition, the excitation of PCs, the RN, and SC resulted in symmetric bilateral whisking. In contrast, the excitation of the RF, and SV resulted in initial asymmetric movement, followed by a more dominantly symmetrical bilateral whisking. Importantly, PC excitation generated a robust rhythmic whisking pattern that could not be reproduced by direct CN stimulation, indicating that the cerebellar cortex sculpts CN population output rather than simply gating it. Our results suggest that cerebellar output engages multiple, specialized pre-motor pathways through a divergent-convergent architecture. This system allows different pre-motor nuclei to modulate distinct aspects of whisking kinematics, ultimately shaping whisker motor dynamics.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"19 ","pages":"1706704"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12872751/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146142044","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: Bridging computation, biophysics, medicine, and engineering in neural circuits.","authors":"Haruyuki Kamiya, Hideaki Yamamoto, Jordi Soriano, Shigeo Sato, Toshiaki Omori","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1776224","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2026.1776224","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"20 ","pages":"1776224"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12868123/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146124505","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":"Morphological and transcriptomic change of brain pericytes by lipopolysaccharide treatment.","authors":"Taiki Asai, Yoshino Yonezu, Akiko Uyeda, Haruki Watanabe, Tatsunori Suzuki, Hidemi Misawa, Rieko Muramatsu","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1725431","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fncir.2026.1725431","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Brain pericytes play essential roles in vascular homeostasis, including capillary stabilization and maintenance of the blood-brain barrier. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a component of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, is known to trigger inflammatory responses not only systemically but also within the central nervous system. In this study, we investigated the effects of LPS on the phenotype and transcriptome of brain vascular pericytes. LPS promoted bromodeoxyuridine incorporation in the primary culture of human brain pericytes as well as increased the number of Ki67-positive cells, indicating enhanced pericyte proliferation. Morphological analysis revealed that LPS decreased the cellular aspect ratio, suggesting altered cellular elongation. Transcriptomic profiling showed that LPS-induced differentially expressed genes were enriched for terms related to cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and blood-brain barrier function. Because pericytes critically regulate neurovascular coupling and metabolic support for active neurons, these LPS-induced alterations may ultimately perturb the microvascular control of neural circuits. These results suggest that LPS has the potential to regulate brain vascular function by inducing morphological and functional changes in pericytes.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"20 ","pages":"1725431"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12864516/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146118346","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":"Tunable dual-AAV sparse labeling of PV⁺ retinal ganglion cells enables single-neuron projection by fMOST.","authors":"Lingbo Zhou, Gao Tan, Yu Li, Man Yuan, Sen Jin, Wenhui Zhang, Qitian Wang, Yin Shen","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2025.1740624","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fncir.2025.1740624","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Sparse and bright labeling of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) is essential for correlating single-cell morphology with brain-wide visual circuitry. This study aimed to develop a cell-type-specific, sparse labeling strategy for parvalbumin-expressing RGCs (PV⁺ RGCs) in the transgenic mouse retina using recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) and to map the whole-brain projection patterns of single PV⁺ RGCs via fluorescence micro-optical sectioning tomography (fMOST).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A cell-type-specific dual AAV system was employed, co-packaging a Cre-dependent Flpo plasmid and an Flpo-dependent enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP) plasmid. Key parameters-including the mixing ratio of core plasmids (ranging from 1/100 to 1/1000), gene copy number of Flpo and EYFP (single versus double), and AAV serotype (AAV2.2 versus engineered AAV2.NN)-were systematically optimized. Transduction efficiency and labeling sparsity under each condition were compared. Whole-retina-to-brain imaging was performed using fMOST on samples injected with the optimal condition (AAV2.2-double-1/1000), enabling the reconstruction of complete axonal trajectories of individual PV⁺ RGCs from the retina to the brain.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The sparsity and signal intensity of labeled RGCs varied significantly with the core plasmid ratio, AAV serotype, and gene copy number. The engineered AAV2.NN serotype increased transduction efficiency and labeling density under equivalent conditions, which facilitated the morphological subclassification of PV⁺ RGCs into ON, ON-OFF, and OFF types based on their stratification relative to ChAT bands. Axonal projections of single PV⁺ RGCs were successfully traced to the superior colliculus (SC), dorsal and ventral lateral geniculate nuclei (dLGN/vLGN).</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>This viral labeling platform effectively resolves the classical trade-off between sparsity and signal intensity, providing a robust methodology for whole-brain mapping of individual RGC projections. The approach establishes a practical foundation for future mechanistic and therapeutic studies investigating subtype-selective vulnerability in RGCs.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"19 ","pages":"1740624"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12833038/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146061757","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":"Evidence of spatial periodic firing in the subiculum of mice.","authors":"P Abad-Perez, G Rigamonti, F J Molina-Paya, G Cabral-Pereira, Miriam Esteve-Campello, R Scott, V Borrell, L Martínez-Otero, A Falco, J R Brotons-Mas","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2025.1648844","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fncir.2025.1648844","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The subiculum is a critical node of the hippocampal formation, integrating multiple circuits-including thalamic inputs and afferents from CA1 and medial entorhinal cortex-and projecting broadly to cortical and subcortical targets. Yet its contribution to spatial coding remains incompletely understood. We recorded single-unit activity in freely moving mice using two complementary electrophysiological approaches: (i) chronic tetrodes targeting CA1 and the dorsal subiculum (SUB), and (ii) 64-channel linear silicon probes targeting dorsal SUB. In addition to place cells, boundary-vector cells (BVCs) and corner cells (CCs), we identified a subset of subicular neurons that exhibited spatially periodic, grid-like firing patterns. This phenomenon was replicated across recording technologies, indicating that periodic coding is a consistent feature of the mouse subiculum. Compared with CA1 place cells, SUB spatial neurons exhibited lower spatial information and reduced within-session stability, suggesting distinct coding regimes across hippocampal subregions. Sampling along the proximodistal axis with probe arrays further revealed that burst propensity correlated positively with spatial information at more distal recording sites, consistent with known physiological gradients in subiculum and echoing relationships seen in CA1. Together, these results expand the repertoire of identified spatial codes in SUB and support the view in which subiculum contributes to geometry- and periodicity-based representations that complement CA1 and entorhinal spatial coding, thereby shaping downstream computations in cortico-subcortical circuits.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"19 ","pages":"1648844"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12685833/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145722075","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":"<i>Magel2</i> in hypothalamic POMC neurons influences the impact of stress on anxiety-like behavior and spatial learning associated with a food reward in male mice.","authors":"Sangbhin Lee, Young-Hwan Jo","doi":"10.3389/fncir.2025.1690406","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fncir.2025.1690406","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) results from a lack of expression in several paternally inherited, imprinted contiguous genes. Among the genes inactivated in PWS, the <i>Magel2</i> gene is considered a significant contributor to the etiology of the syndrome. The loss of the <i>Magel2</i> gene causes abnormalities in growth and fertility and increased adiposity with altered metabolism in adulthood, which aligns with some of the pathologies observed in PWS. Given that anxiety is a prominent phenotypic behavior in PWS, we investigate the role of the <i>Magel2</i> gene, particularly in hypothalamic POMC neurons innervating the medial amygdala (MeA), in the behavioral phenotypes associated with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this study, we used a retrograde AAV containing the Cre recombinase under the control of neuronal Pomc enhancers to genetically eliminate the <i>Magel2</i> gene in MeA-innervating ARCPomc neurons.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Both male and female mice lacking the <i>Magel2</i> gene in MeA-innervating ARC^Pomc neurons display no alterations in anxiety-like behavior during the open field test, light/dark test, and elevated plus maze test in the absence of exposure to acute stress. However, male mice with a <i>Magel2</i> gene deletion in these particular neurons exhibit increased stress-induced anxiety-like behavior and reduce motivation/spatial learning, while female mice do not show these behavioral changes. Our results suggest that the <i>Magel2</i> gene in ARC^Pomc neurons, especially in males, influences the impact of stress on anxiety-like behavior and spatial learning deficits associated with a food reward.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>With the recent approval of a novel treatment for hyperphagia in PWS by the FDA that seems to target the hypothalamic melanocortin system, understanding the cellular mechanisms by which MAGEL2 in ARC^Pomc neurons innervating the MeA regulates emotional behaviors might help the development of new therapeutic strategies for addressing mental illness in individuals with PWS.</p>","PeriodicalId":12498,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Neural Circuits","volume":"19 ","pages":"1690406"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12660244/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145648080","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}