NeuronPub Date : 2025-05-14DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.024
Rhiana C Simon, Weston T Fleming, Brandy A Briones, Marta Trzeciak, Pranav Senthilkumar, Kentaro K Ishii, Madelyn M Hjort, Madison M Martin, Koichi Hashikawa, Andrea D Sanders, Sam A Golden, Garret D Stuber
{"title":"Opioid-driven disruption of the septum reveals a role for neurotensin-expressing neurons in withdrawal.","authors":"Rhiana C Simon, Weston T Fleming, Brandy A Briones, Marta Trzeciak, Pranav Senthilkumar, Kentaro K Ishii, Madelyn M Hjort, Madison M Martin, Koichi Hashikawa, Andrea D Sanders, Sam A Golden, Garret D Stuber","doi":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.024","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Opioid withdrawal is an intensively aversive experience and often drives relapse. The lateral septum (LS) is a forebrain structure that is important in aversion processing and has been linked to substance use disorders, but which LS cell types contribute to the maladaptive state of withdrawal is unknown. We used single-nucleus RNA sequencing to interrogate cell-type-specific gene expression changes induced by chronic morphine exposure and discovered that morphine globally disrupts LS cell types, but neurotensin-expressing neurons (LS-Nts) are selectively activated by naloxone. Using two-photon calcium imaging and ex vivo electrophysiology, we next demonstrate that LS-Nts neurons receive elevated glutamatergic drive in morphine-dependent mice and remain hyperactivated during withdrawal. Finally, we show that manipulating LS-Nts neurons during opioid withdrawal regulates pain coping and sociability. Together, these results suggest that LS-Nts neurons are a key neural substrate involved in opioid withdrawal and establish the LS as a crucial regulator of adaptive behaviors.</p>","PeriodicalId":19313,"journal":{"name":"Neuron","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144086630","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuronPub Date : 2025-05-13DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.023
Hayley A Bounds, Hillel Adesnik
{"title":"Network influence determines the impact of cortical ensembles on stimulus detection.","authors":"Hayley A Bounds, Hillel Adesnik","doi":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.023","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Causally connecting neural activity patterns to behavioral decisions is essential to understand the neural code but requires direct perturbation of the pattern of interest with high specificity. We combined two-photon imaging and cellular-resolution holographic optogenetic photostimulation to causally test how neural activity in the mouse visual cortex is read out to detect visual stimuli. Contrary to expectations, targeted activation of visually sensitive neural ensembles did not preferentially modify behavior compared with targeting randomly selected ensembles. Instead, an activated ensemble's effect on local network activity was the main predictor of its impact on perception. This suggests that downstream regions summate visual cortex activity without preferentially weighting more informative neurons, a notion confirmed by analyzing the impact of photostimulation on decoding models of neural activity. This work challenges conventional notions for how sensory representations mediate perception and demonstrates that perturbing activity is essential to determine which features of neural activity drive behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":19313,"journal":{"name":"Neuron","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144086629","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuronPub Date : 2025-05-09DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.013
William Milanick, Jianing Li, Connon I Thomas, Mohammed Al-Yaari, Debbie Guerrero-Given, Naomi Kamasawa, Samuel M Young
{"title":"Presynaptic α<sub>2</sub>δs specify synaptic gain, not synaptogenesis, in the mammalian brain.","authors":"William Milanick, Jianing Li, Connon I Thomas, Mohammed Al-Yaari, Debbie Guerrero-Given, Naomi Kamasawa, Samuel M Young","doi":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.013","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The α<sub>2</sub>δs are a family of extracellular synaptic molecules that are auxiliary subunits of voltage-gated Ca<sup>2+</sup> channel (Ca<sub>V</sub>) complexes. They are linked to brain disorders and are drug targets. The α<sub>2</sub>δs are implicated in controlling synapse development and function through distinct Ca<sub>V</sub>-dependent and Ca<sub>V</sub>-independent pathways. However, the mechanisms of action remain enigmatic since synapses contain mixtures of α<sub>2</sub>δ isoforms in the pre- and postsynaptic compartments. We developed a triple conditional knockout mouse model and demonstrated the combined selective presynaptic ablation of α<sub>2</sub>δs in vivo in a developing mammalian glutamatergic synapse. We identified presynaptic α<sub>2</sub>δs as positive regulators of Munc13-1 levels, an essential neurotransmitter release protein. We found that mammalian synapse development, presynaptic Ca<sub>V</sub>2.1 organization, and the transsynaptic alignment of presynaptic release sites and postsynaptic glutamate receptors are independent of presynaptic α<sub>2</sub>δs. Therefore, our results define presynaptic α<sub>2</sub>δ regulatory roles and suggest a new α<sub>2</sub>δ role in controlling synaptic strength and plasticity.</p>","PeriodicalId":19313,"journal":{"name":"Neuron","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144078905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuronPub Date : 2025-05-08DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.018
Xuemei Liu, Juan Lai, Chuanliang Han, Hao Zhong, Kang Huang, Yuanming Liu, Xutao Zhu, Pengfei Wei, Liming Tan, Fuqiang Xu, Liping Wang
{"title":"Neural circuit underlying individual differences in visual escape habituation.","authors":"Xuemei Liu, Juan Lai, Chuanliang Han, Hao Zhong, Kang Huang, Yuanming Liu, Xutao Zhu, Pengfei Wei, Liming Tan, Fuqiang Xu, Liping Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.018","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Emotions like fear help organisms respond to threats. Repeated predator exposure leads to adaptive responses with unclear neural mechanisms behind individual variability. We identify two escape behaviors in mice-persistent escape (T1) and rapid habituation (T2)-linked to unique arousal states under repetitive looming stimuli. Combining multichannel recording, circuit mapping, optogenetics, and behavioral analyses, we find parallel pathways from the superior colliculus (SC) to the basolateral amygdala (BLA) via the ventral tegmental area (VTA) for T1 and via the mediodorsal thalamus (MD) for T2. T1 involves heightened arousal, while T2 features rapid habituation. The MD integrates SC and insular cortex inputs to modulate arousal and defensive behaviors. This work reveals neural circuits underpinning adaptive threat responses and individual variability.</p>","PeriodicalId":19313,"journal":{"name":"Neuron","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143991777","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuronPub Date : 2025-05-07DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.008
Rebecca M Shansky
{"title":"An unexpected mediator of pain-driven opioid use in males-estrogen.","authors":"Rebecca M Shansky","doi":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.008","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Men who take opioids to relieve pain are at the highest risk for maladaptive misuse and overdose, but a sex-specific neurobiological link between pain states and opioid use has not been identified. In this issue of Neuron, Higginbotham et al.<sup>1</sup> identify estradiol as a potent suppressor of midbrain dopaminergic activity that selectively reduces fentanyl intake in males.</p>","PeriodicalId":19313,"journal":{"name":"Neuron","volume":"113 9","pages":"1299-1301"},"PeriodicalIF":14.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143974933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuronPub Date : 2025-05-07DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.009
Gabriela Carreno, Gemma M Balmer, Rebecca L Eccles
{"title":"The nervous system and cancer: A grand challenge and a call to collaborate.","authors":"Gabriela Carreno, Gemma M Balmer, Rebecca L Eccles","doi":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2025.04.009","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cancer Grand Challenges recently announced seven new challenges, inviting the global research community to assemble multinational interdisciplinary teams to take them on. By including a challenge focusing on the nervous system and cancer, we hope to deepen existing ties between cancer and neuroscience research, entice new thought leaders into the field, and make radical progress together.</p>","PeriodicalId":19313,"journal":{"name":"Neuron","volume":"113 9","pages":"1307-1309"},"PeriodicalIF":14.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144013076","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuronPub Date : 2025-05-07Epub Date: 2025-03-19DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.02.023
Takuma Sonoda, Céleste-Élise Stephany, Kaleb Kelley, Di Kang, Rui Wu, Meghna R Uzgare, Michela Fagiolini, Michael E Greenberg, Chinfei Chen
{"title":"Experience influences the refinement of feature selectivity in the mouse primary visual thalamus.","authors":"Takuma Sonoda, Céleste-Élise Stephany, Kaleb Kelley, Di Kang, Rui Wu, Meghna R Uzgare, Michela Fagiolini, Michael E Greenberg, Chinfei Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.02.023","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.02.023","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neurons exhibit selectivity for specific features: a property essential for extracting and encoding relevant information in the environment. This feature selectivity is thought to be modifiable by experience at the level of the cortex. Here, we demonstrate that selective exposure to a feature during development can alter the population representation of that feature in the primary visual thalamus. This thalamic plasticity is not due to changes in corticothalamic inputs and is blocked in mutant mice that exhibit deficits in retinogeniculate refinement, suggesting that plasticity is a direct result of changes in feedforward connectivity. Notably, experience-dependent changes in thalamic feature selectivity also occur in adult animals, although these changes are transient, unlike in juvenile animals, where they are long lasting. These results reveal an unexpected degree of plasticity in the visual thalamus and show that salient environmental features can be encoded in thalamic circuits during a discrete developmental window.</p>","PeriodicalId":19313,"journal":{"name":"Neuron","volume":" ","pages":"1352-1362.e4"},"PeriodicalIF":14.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143670175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuronPub Date : 2025-05-07Epub Date: 2025-03-10DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.02.013
Jessica A Higginbotham, Julian G Abt, Rachel H Teich, Joanna J Dearman, Tania Lintz, Jose A Morón
{"title":"Estradiol protects against pain-facilitated fentanyl use via suppression of opioid-evoked dopamine activity in males.","authors":"Jessica A Higginbotham, Julian G Abt, Rachel H Teich, Joanna J Dearman, Tania Lintz, Jose A Morón","doi":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.02.013","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.02.013","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pain relief is the most frequently reported motivation for opioid misuse, but it remains unclear how pain alters reward pathway function contributing to maladaptive opioid use and whether these neuroadaptations occur in a sex-specific manner. Here, we show that persistent inflammatory pain leads to augmented fentanyl self-administration in male, not female, rats. Wireless in vivo fiber photometry recordings and chemogenetic manipulations indicate that pain-facilitated fentanyl use is mediated by enhanced ventral tegmental area dopamine (VTA<sup>DA</sup>) neuron responses during self-administration. In females, ovariectomy enhances fentanyl self-administration, but the protective effects of ovarian hormones are not solely mediated by estradiol per se. Instead, pain and high estradiol states-naturally occurring in intact females or artificially produced in males-suppress fentanyl self-administration and associated VTA<sup>DA</sup> activity through VTA estrogen receptor beta signaling. These findings highlight the importance of assessing hormonal factors in opioid misuse liability in the context of pain.</p>","PeriodicalId":19313,"journal":{"name":"Neuron","volume":" ","pages":"1413-1429.e5"},"PeriodicalIF":14.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12064386/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143605324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}