Showing papers in "Current Opinion in Neurobiology in 2012"

TL;DR: A meta analysis using data from thirteen different functional magnetic resonance imaging studies published in recent years shows that the principle brain area associated with this common representation is a subregion of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)/orbitofrontal cortex (OFC).

TL;DR: Recent progress made toward the understanding the regulation of AMPAR trafficking is reviewed, focusing on the roles of several key intracellular AMPAR interacting proteins.

TL;DR: The pioneering microscopic studies examining the structural plasticity of spines are reviewed and how changes in actin treadmilling might regulate spine morphology are proposed.

TL;DR: Recent behavioral and neural evidence about the reward prediction error (RPE) theory of dopamine function and model-free reinforcement learning are reviewed in attempt to reconcile their enigmatic cohabitation in the brain.

TL;DR: It is argued that neuronal 'wiring diagrams' are likely necessary, but not sufficient, to understand the operation of most neuronal circuits: volume EM imaging will likely find its best application in combination with other methods in neuroscience, such as molecular biology, optogenetics, and physiology.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review strengths and limitations of both of these proposals, and suggest that decisions emerge through a distributed consensus across many levels of representation, including abstract representations of outcomes and competition in a sensorimotor map defining the actions themselves.

TL;DR: While there is a neural circuit for making choices between pairs of simultaneously presented items in the manner that is frequently assessed in the laboratory, there is also evidence that other frontal lobe circuits have evolved to make other types of choices such as those made during the course of foraging.

TL;DR: Given the unique biophysical properties of N MDARs, synaptic plasticity of NMDAR-mediated transmission emerges as a particularly powerful mechanism for the fine tuning of information encoding and storage throughout the brain.

TL;DR: Motor behavior may be viewed as a problem of maximizing the utility of movement outcome in the face of sensory, motor and task uncertainty, and the choice of a movement plan and strategy for motor control becomes an application of statistical decision theory.

TL;DR: There are several major hypotheses regarding the circuitry involved: a change in the balance of excitation/inhibition in the prefrontal cortex (PFC); second, abnormal EEG oscillations in the gamma range; third, an increase in theta/delta EEG power related to changes in the thalamus; fourth, hyperactivity in the hippocampus and consequent dopamine hyperfunction; and fifth, deficits in corollary discharge.

TL;DR: Studying visual homing in insects is interesting because they allow experimentation and view-reconstruction under natural conditions, because they are likely to have evolved parsimonious, yet robust solutions to the homing problem and because they force us to consider the viewpoint of navigating animals, including their sensory and computational capacities.

TL;DR: Classifying synaptic disease phenotypes with genetic and proteome data provides a new brain disease classification system based on molecular etiology and pathogenesis.

TL;DR: The interaction between the AMPAR-Stargazin complex and PSD-95 as the minimal components of the diffusional trapping slot is identified and the molecular basis of this critical interaction, its activity-dependent regulation and its potential contribution to LTP are overview.

TL;DR: Recent progress in this field is summarized and emerging topics, such as the role of alternative interaction partners of NXs and NLs in synapse formation and function, and their relevance for synaptic plasticity in the mature brain are discussed.

TL;DR: Some of the challenges that must be met to achieve the critical need of realistic model data to be used as ground truth in the validation of spike-sorting algorithms are described.

TL;DR: Hierarchical reinforcement learning builds on traditional reinforcement learning mechanisms, extending them to accommodate temporally extended behaviors or subroutines and conceptually aligning the study of hierarchical behavior with research on other aspects of learning and decision making.

TL;DR: Recent progress in the design, optimization and deployment of genetically encoded indicators for calcium ions, membrane potential, and neurotransmitters are reviewed.

TL;DR: This review discusses how reversible posttranslational modifications, including phosphorylation, palmitoylation and ubiquitination of AMPA receptor subunits are important regulatory mechanisms for controlling synaptic AMPA receptors expression and function.

TL;DR: This review summarizes the latest developments in the understanding of amygdala networks that support classical fear conditioning, the experimental paradigm most commonly used to study learned fear in the laboratory, as well as new techniques and the continued use of traditional approaches.

TL;DR: The principles underlying the operation of these two recently developed, but widely used, toolboxes are discussed, as well as the directions being taken in the use and improvement of these toolboxes.

TL;DR: Evidence that primary neural precursors in the adult hippocampus exhibit significant heterogeneity in their properties of self-renewal, multi-lineage differentiation and regulation is reviewed to outline a common framework for future studies of molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating adult neural stem cells and how these cells may contribute to hippocampal function and repair.

TL;DR: This review discusses recent advances that offer insight into the pathogenesis of a small subset of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and accompanying macrocephaly and discusses the PTEN downstream signaling pathways that likely mediate these cellular and behavioral effects.

TL;DR: An overview of the history of light sheet microscopy is provided, the development of tissue clearing methods are reviewed, and recent technical breakthroughs that have the potential to influence the future direction of the field are discussed.

TL;DR: The similarities between sniffing and whisking are reviewed and it is suggested that such similarities indicate a mechanistic link between these two rhythmic exploratory behaviors.

TL;DR: It has been experimentally verified that Earth-strength magnetic fields can affect photo-induced chemical reactions and that these reactions can respond to magnetic field direction.

TL;DR: Spindle orientation is a key mechanism for generating cell diversity and balancing self-renewal and differentiation of neural stem cells and regulators of spindle orientation are necessary for balancing planar and oblique orientations in the developing mammalian cerebral cortex.

TL;DR: Current work on multi-alternative decisions suggests that deviations from rational models of choice behavior can be explained by established neural mechanisms, and the relationship between biologically-based mechanistic models and normative-type models is concerned.

TL;DR: Recordings from the cricket nervous system suggest that synchrony between the activity of specific interneuron pairs may provide a rapid cue for the cricket to detect the direction of an approaching predator and thus which direction it should run.

TL;DR: A thorough elucidation of the properties of native glutamate receptor complexes is indispensable for the understanding of the molecular machinery that regulates glutamate receptors and excitatory synaptic transmission in the brain.

TL;DR: Understanding the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying changes in striatal circuit function will provide insight into how drugs of abuse usurp normal learning mechanisms to produce pathological behavior.