Journal of Neuroscience最新文献

{"title":"Attention to Pseudotone Melodies Enhances Cortical But Not Brainstem Responses in Humans.","authors":"Victoria Figarola, Yunshu Li, Adam Tierney, Fred Dick, Abigail Noyce, Ross K Maddox, Barbara Shinn-Cunningham","doi":"10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1754-25.2026","DOIUrl":"10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1754-25.2026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Auditory selective attention, the ability to focus on specific sounds while ignoring competitors, enables communication in complex soundscapes. Though attention clearly modulates cortical responses to sound, whether and where this modulation occurs in subcortical structures remains disputed. Here, we use electroencephalography to record cortical and subcortical (auditory brainstem responses, ABRs) activity during a selective attention task. Human participants (18 males, 17 females, 1 of either sex) attend to a three-note melody in one pitch range presented to one ear while ignoring a competing, interleaved melody in a different pitch range played to the other ear (Laffere et al., 2020, 2021). The melodies consist of pitch-evoking pseudotones formed by convolving a periodic impulse train with a brief tone pip. These stimuli allow us to measure both ABRs (elicited by each individual tone pip within a pseudonote) and cortical responses (elicited by the onsets of pseudonotes) simultaneously. We observed robust ABRs, but no evidence of modulation by attention. Conversely, cortical responses, measured by event-related potentials, demonstrated attentional modulation of the P1-N1 peak. We found no evidence that selective attention modulates short-latency ABRs under conditions that elicit robust cortical attentional effects.</p>","PeriodicalId":50114,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147610226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Role of Social Familiarity in the Transmission of Aggression.","authors":"Jessie Y S Choy","doi":"10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0056-26.2026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0056-26.2026","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50114,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience","volume":"46 18","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147845438","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Role of Inhibitory Neurons in Deviance Sound Detection in Regular and Random Statistical Contexts.","authors":"Xiaomao Ding, Nathan W Vogler, Melanie Tobin, Linda Garami, Alexandria M H Lesicko, Katherine C Wood, Maria N Geffen","doi":"10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0827-25.2026","DOIUrl":"10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0827-25.2026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Detecting statistical regularities in sound and responding to violations of these patterns, termed deviance detection, is a core function of the auditory system. In the human brain, studies have shown that deviance responses are enhanced in regular compared with random auditory contexts, but the underlying neuronal circuit mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we examined how inhibitory neurons contribute to context-dependent deviance responses in the mouse auditory cortex (AC). Using two-photon calcium imaging in AC of awake head-fixed male and female mice, we recorded neuronal activity during presentation of spectrotemporally rich moving ripple sounds, with deviant ripples embedded in either regular or random ripple sequences. AC neurons exhibited stronger responses to deviant sounds in regular contexts compared with random ones. To identify circuit mechanisms, we selectively inactivated parvalbumin (PV), somatostatin (SST), or vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) inhibitory neurons during the deviant stimulus presentation. Inactivation of PV and SST neurons broadly increased deviance responses in both contexts. In contrast, VIP inactivation selectively reduced responses to deviant stimuli in the regular, but not random, context, decreasing the context-dependent deviance signal enhancement. At the population level, inactivating all three neuronal subtypes increased detectability of the deviant stimulus, but the effects were context-dependent only for VIP inactivation. These findings reveal the distinct role of VIP neurons in modulating deviance signals based on context regularity, identifying a specific inhibitory neuron type that is critical for context-sensitive auditory processing and predictive coding.</p>","PeriodicalId":50114,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147595815","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Temporal Requirement for Stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 in Oligodendrocyte Development But Not Myelin Maintenance.","authors":"Iris Farnum, Thaddeus J Kunkel, Adam M Coombs, Ben Emery, Manideep Chavali","doi":"10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1881-25.2026","DOIUrl":"10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1881-25.2026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (<i>Scd1</i>) is a rate-limiting enzyme in monounsaturated fatty acid synthesis, which is crucial for membrane biosynthesis. Here we show an early requirement for <i>Scd1</i> in oligodendroglial cells during developmental myelination. Using oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC)-specific conditional knockout mouse model of <i>Scd1</i>, we observed a myelination delay during CNS development in both male and female mice. Genetic ablation of OPC-specific <i>Scd1</i> resulted in oligodendrocyte maturation delay and hypomyelination within forebrain white matter tracts and optic nerve. Interestingly, although expressed at high levels within the mature oligodendrocytes, <i>Scd1</i> was dispensable in maintenance of oligodendrocytes and axonal myelination, as loss of mature oligodendrocyte-specific <i>Scd1</i> showed no effect on myelin maintenance or oligodendrocyte survival. Together, our results suggest that <i>Scd1</i> function is temporally restricted to the developmental period when oligodendrocytes undergo differentiation and active myelination but becomes dispensable for maintaining established myelin.</p>","PeriodicalId":50114,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147634666","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Refinement of Nucleus Accumbens Neuronal Dynamics during Cocaine Self-Administration Training.","authors":"Linjie Jin, Xiguang Qi, Jianwei Liu, William J Wright, Terra A Schall, King-Lun Li, Bo Zeng, Charles Wang, Lirong Wang, Yan Dong","doi":"10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2215-25.2026","DOIUrl":"10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2215-25.2026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Drug addiction is an acquired motivational-behavioral state that begins with drug taking, which is composed of a series of phases, including initial acquisition, stabilization, habituation, and maintenance. In rodent models of cocaine self-administration, the forebrain region nucleus accumbens (NAc) has been critically implicated in the acquisition-maintenance process of drug-taking and drug-seeking behaviors. However, it remains unknown how NAc neurons shift their activity patterns in response to these phasic transitions during cocaine taking. To examine this, we used GCaMP6m-based in vivo Ca²⁺ imaging in male mice to monitor activities of principal medium spiny neurons (MSNs) in the NAc across 11 d of cocaine self-administration. Behaviorally, mice exhibited progressive stabilization of operant responding and locomotion across 11 d of cocaine self-administration. During the early training days, we detected a portion of NAc neurons-a potential neuronal ensemble-that exhibited increased activities temporally contingent to the lever-press for cocaine. The number of NAc neurons exhibiting contingent activity increased progressively over the first three training days and then decreased gradually during the later training days, exhibiting expansion-refinement dynamics that may correspond to the acquisition and subsequent stabilization/maintenance of cocaine self-administration. Using a neuron-tracking technique, we found that the lever-press-contingent NAc ensemble exhibited substantial compositional dynamics, with neurons dropping into and out across training days. These activity features of lever-press-contingent neurons may represent key circuit dynamics of the NAc that transition the acquisition toward the maintenance of cocaine-taking behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":50114,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147647118","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Controlling spatio-temporal sequences of neural activity by local synaptic changes.","authors":"Hauke O Wernecke, Andrew B Lehr, Arvind Kumar","doi":"10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1506-25.2026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1506-25.2026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The neural basis of behavior is believed to consist of sequential patterns of neural activity in the relevant brain regions. Behavioral flexibility also requires neural circuit mechanisms that support dynamic control of sequential activity. However, mechanisms to control and reconfigure sequential activity have received little attention. Here, we show that recurrently connected networks with heterogeneous connectivity and a smooth spatial in-degree landscape (which may arise due to asymmetric neuron morphologies) provide a robust mechanism to evoke and control sequential activity. By modulating the synaptic strength of only a few neurons in local neighborhoods, we uncovered high-impact locations that can start, stop, extend, gate, and redirect sequences. Interestingly, highimpact locations coincide with mid in-degree regions. We demonstrate that these motifs can flexibly reconfigure sequential activity, and hence, provide a framework for fast and flexible computations on behavioral timescales, while the individual parts of the pathways remain rigid and reliable.<b>Significance Statement</b> Neuron morphologies are often asymmetric and differ in size, through which neural networks become strongly heterogeneous. Beyond being a mechanism for stabilizing network dynamics, we investigate the computational capabilities of heterogeneous networks. The resulting networks display a wide range of input connectivity across space. Hence, various cognitive processes can be computed in parallel in distinct regions of the spatial network. We demonstrate that the interactions among the computations can be flexibly reconfigured by a mechanism that utilizes local modulation. Consequently, spatially heterogeneous networks provide a framework for fast computations that can be fine-tuned in a context-dependent manner on a behavioral timescale.</p>","PeriodicalId":50114,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147845490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"5imilar Response Dynamics Represent Opposite Behaviors and Rewards in Frontal Cortex.","authors":"Pingbo Yin, Susanne Radtke-Schuller, Jonathan B Fritz, Shihab A Shamma","doi":"10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1302-25.2026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1302-25.2026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Frontal Cortex (FC) plays a pivotal role in adaptively controlling actions and their dynamics in response to incoming sensory signals. We explored FC encoding of identical stimuli and their behavioral consequences when they signified diametrically opposite responses depending on task context. Two groups of female ferrets performed Go-NoGo auditory categorization tasks with opposite contingencies and rewards, and diverse stimuli. Remarkably, despite opposite stimulus-action associations, single-unit responses were similar across all tasks, being more sustained and stronger to Target sounds (signaling a change in action) than to Reference sounds (indicating maintenance of ongoing actions) especially during task engagement. Overall activity was composed of three distinct dynamic response profiles. Each corresponded to a separate neuronal cluster and exhibited a different role in relation to the succession of task events. Decoding based on the temporal structure of population responses revealed distinct decoders that were aligned to different task events. Similar to single unit findings, the β-band power extracted from the FC local field potentials (LFPs) was strongly and similarly modulated during Target stimuli across all tasks despite opposite behavioral actions. In contrast, power in all other LFP frequency bands varied significantly across task stimuli and actions. Based on these findings, we propose the FC encodes a common, highly abstract representation of all the different behavioral tasks. We further outline a hypothetical model of pathway-specific functional projections from the tripartite FC neuronal clusters to the basal ganglia, consistent with previous evidence for the conjoint roles of the FC and striatum in adaptive motor control.<b>Significance Statement</b> The frontal cortex (FC) encodes an abstract representation of perception and action with associated rewards and cognitive functions. Thus, even when ferrets perform opposite Go/NoGo behaviors, FC responses exhibit similar sequences of dynamic patterns from 3 cell clusters. The first component is phasic encoding stimulus category and the decision to maintain or change ongoing actions. The second is a rapid response suppression, initiated if the animal switches to a new action. The third is a buildup of excitatory activity as the animal sustains its new action. We propose a model for how such an abstract FC representation may emerge from separate functional projections from the FC clusters to the striatum, offering new insights into the FC role in behavioral control.</p>","PeriodicalId":50114,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147845542","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Electrophysiological Brain Connectivity and Subjective States Evoked by Electrical Stimulation of the Human Mid-Thalamus.","authors":"Sofia Pantis, Masaya Togo, Dian Lyu, Weichen Huang, Julian Quabs, Heejung Jung, Eric van Staalduinen, Lindsay Liu Yang, Aidan Chan, Mina Fedor, Robert Fisher, Vivek Buch, Josef Parvizi","doi":"10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2100-25.2026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2100-25.2026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Recent developments in intracranial EEG (iEEG) allow direct recordings from the human thalamus, offering new insight into thalamocortical relationships in the human brain. In this study, we applied direct intracranial electrical stimulation (iES) to the mid-thalamus, within or close to the mediodorsal nucleus, to examine its impact on conscious experience and causal brain connectivity in 30 patients with focal epilepsy (10 females, 128 sites; 4±1 sites per patient). Applying 50Hz stimulations (iES_HF) in the mid-thalamus region elicited changes in conscious experience in 11 of 12 patients (39 sites; 83 stimulations across 27 unique pairs), predominantly in the visceral, emotional, or somatosensory domains and often described as unpleasant without any seemingly obvious lateralization effect. Our connectivity analyses based on single pulse 0.5Hz stimulations (iES_LF), at the individual brain level, revealed strong electrophysiological connectivity between the mid-thalamus and the insula, anterior- and mid-cingulate, as well as the other prefrontal cortices (PFC) and medial temporal lobe structures. Notably, inflow signals from some of the sites to the mid-thalamus were significantly stronger than those in the reverse direction, indicating clear asymmetry in connectivity. These findings demonstrate that stimulation of the human thalamus modulates conscious experience and reveal an asymmetric electrophysiological relationship between the thalamus and human cerebral cortex.<b>Significance statement</b> Our findings provide a functional and causal map of the mid-thalamus in the human brain. We provide direct evidence that stimulation of the human thalamus can modulate conscious experience. This study also holds clinical and translational value for identifying thalamic pathways involved in the propagation and generalization of seizures, especially seizures involving the medial temporal lobe, as well as for neuromodulation in epilepsy and other neuropsychiatric disorders.</p>","PeriodicalId":50114,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147845530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nuclear Factor-Y Controls Neurite Extension by Balancing BMP Signaling.","authors":"Pedro Moreira, Paul Papatheodorou, Roger Pocock","doi":"10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0029-26.2026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0029-26.2026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neuronal circuit formation is controlled by secreted guidance molecules and their receptors. However, the transcriptional mechanisms underlying neuronal circuit formation are not fully understood. In an unbiased genetic screen, we identified the Nuclear Factor-Y transcription factor (NF-Y) as a key regulator of neuron fate and axon guidance. NF-Y is a highly conserved and ubiquitous complex, composed of three subunits: NF-YA, NF-YB and NF-YC. The NF-YA subunit directly binds to regulatory regions of target genes to control their expression. Here, we show that NFYA-1 controls neurite development of multiple neuronal subtypes in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> Using the serotonergic neurosecretory-motor neurons (NSM) neurons as a model, we discovered that NFYA-1 acts cell autonomously to limit NSM dorsal neurite length. Further, NSM neurite overextension caused by NFYA-1 loss is suppressed by overactivating DBL-1/BMP (Bone Morphogenetic Protein) signaling. A previous study found that in <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>, NF-YC regulates axon targeting of photoreceptor neurons. Thus, NF-Y likely plays a broad role in shaping neuronal circuitry across species, albeit through distinct mechanisms.<b>Significance statement</b> Correct nervous system development requires precise neurite guidance and termination. Over the last four decades, the guidance molecules controlling these events have been extensively studied, whereas transcriptional regulation of these molecules remains poorly understood. We reveal an important role for the Nuclear Factor-Y transcription factor (NF-Y) in controlling distinct neurodevelopmental events. By specifically focusing on neurite extension, we show that NF-Y acts in parallel with multiple established neuronal architects to promote correct neurite development. Intriguingly, inducing the Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) pathway corrects aberrant neurite extension caused by NF-Y loss. These findings provide insight into how nervous system architecture is controlled by a conserved transcriptional regulator and the crucial connection between NF-Y and the BMP pathway during neurite extension.</p>","PeriodicalId":50114,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147845351","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Insular input to the prelimbic cortex underlies social affective behavior in rats.","authors":"E K Chun, A Djerdjaj, T Matulis, A J Ng, M M Rogers-Carter, J P Christianson","doi":"10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1747-25.2026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1747-25.2026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>To navigate social interactions, animals must adjust their behavior in response to information derived from conspecifics. The integration of social information and coordination of behavior occurs within a distributed social decision making network. The prelimbic (PL) prefrontal cortex and the insula (IC) are key nodes in the salience network which is anatomically situated to interact with the social brain. We investigated the IC-PL circuit in a social affective preference (SAP) test in which male rats are exposed to 2 age-matched conspecifics where one is stressed via footshock and the other is naive to stress. Typically, rats approach stressed juvenile conspecifics but avoid stressed adults. Using a combination of local and tract specific loss of function methods, we demonstrate that the PL, anterior IC, and the tracts between the posterior or anterior IC and the PL are necessary when rats face the choice to approach or avoid stressed conspecifics. Going further, chemogenetic inhibition of PL neurons innervated by the IC also interfered with social affective behaviors. These studies enrich our understanding of the neurobiology of social decision making by establishing a mechanistic link between insular and prefrontal circuits.<b>Significance Statement</b> The successful navigation of social interactions requires detection of the emotional states of others and the appropriate behavioral output. While the insula and prefrontal cortex have both been implicated as key brain regions in social decision-making and the salience network, their functional role in guiding social behaviors are largely unknown. Using a combination of region-specific and circuit manipulations in rats, we present evidence of the necessity of the insula-prefrontal pathway in the approach and avoidance of stressed others, reinforcing the importance of this cortical system in social affective processing. This work provides new insight into the network-level mechanisms underlying social behavior and highlights an important circuit that may be relevant to understanding neuropsychiatric disorders with social impairments.</p>","PeriodicalId":50114,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147845414","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}