Gerald E. Schneider, a professor emeritus of psychology and member of the MIT community for over 60 years, passed away on Dec. 11, 2024. He was 84. Schneider was an authority on the relationships between brain structure and behavior, concentrating on neuronal development, regeneration or altered growth after brain injury, and the behavioral consequences of… Continue reading Professor Emeritus Gerald Schneider, discoverer of the “two visual systems,” dies at 84
Tag: Developmental Neuroscience
Repetitive Sensory Stimulation Potentiates and Recruits Sensory-Evoked Cortical Population Activity
Sensory experience and learning are thought to be associated with plasticity of neocortical circuits. Repetitive sensory stimulation can induce long-term potentiation (LTP) of cortical excitatory synapses in anesthetized mice; however, it is unclear if these phenomena are associated with sustained changes in activity during wakefulness. Here we used time-lapse, calcium imaging of layer (L) 2/3… Continue reading Repetitive Sensory Stimulation Potentiates and Recruits Sensory-Evoked Cortical Population Activity
Synapse-to-Nucleus ERK->CREB Transcriptional Signaling Requires Dendrite-to-Soma Ca2+ Propagation Mediated by L-Type Voltage-Gated Ca2+ Channels
The cAMP-response element–binding protein (CREB) transcription factor controls the expression of the neuronal immediate early genes c-fos, Arc, and Bdnf and is essential for long-lasting synaptic plasticity underlying learning and memory. Despite this critical role, there is still ongoing debate regarding the synaptic excitation–transcription (E–T) coupling mechanisms mediating CREB activation in the nucleus. Here we… Continue reading Synapse-to-Nucleus ERK->CREB Transcriptional Signaling Requires Dendrite-to-Soma Ca2+ Propagation Mediated by L-Type Voltage-Gated Ca2+ Channels
Spatial Mapping of Activity Changes across Sensory Areas Following Visual Deprivation in Adults
Loss of a sensory modality triggers global adaptation across brain areas, allowing the remaining senses to guide behavior more effectively. There are specific synaptic and circuit plasticity observed across many sensory areas, which suggests potential widespread changes in activity. Here we used a cFosTRAP2 mouse line to drive tdTomato (tdT) expression in active cells to… Continue reading Spatial Mapping of Activity Changes across Sensory Areas Following Visual Deprivation in Adults
Activity-Dependent Internalization of Glun2B-Containing NMDARs Is Required for Synaptic Incorporation of Glun2A and Synaptic Plasticity
NMDA-type glutamate receptors are heterotetrameric complexes composed of two GluN1 and two GluN2 subunits. The precise composition of the GluN2 subunits determines the channel’s biophysical properties and influences its interaction with postsynaptic scaffolding proteins and signaling molecules involved in synaptic physiology and plasticity. The precise regulation of NMDAR subunit composition at synapses is crucial for… Continue reading Activity-Dependent Internalization of Glun2B-Containing NMDARs Is Required for Synaptic Incorporation of Glun2A and Synaptic Plasticity
Modeling complex behavior with a simple organism
The roundworm C. elegans is a simple animal whose nervous system has exactly 302 neurons. Each of the connections between those neurons has been comprehensively mapped, allowing researchers to study how they work together to generate the animal’s different behaviors. Steven Flavell, an MIT associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences and investigator with the… Continue reading Modeling complex behavior with a simple organism
Wrong place, wrong time: Why Zika virus hijacks a protein needed for brain growth
The mosquito-borne Zika virus is known for causing microcephaly, a birth defect in which abnormal brain development results in a smaller-than-expected head. A new study shows that the Zika virus hijacks a host protein called ANKLE2, which happens to be important for brain development, to assist its own reproduction. Because Zika, unlike most related viruses,… Continue reading Wrong place, wrong time: Why Zika virus hijacks a protein needed for brain growth
Sex Differences in Central Amygdala Glutamate Responses to Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide
Women are disproportionately affected by chronic pain compared with men. While societal and environmental factors contribute to this disparity, sex-based biological differences in the processing of pain are also believed to play significant roles. The central lateral nucleus of the amygdala (CeLC) is a key region for the emotional-affective dimension of pain, and a prime… Continue reading Sex Differences in Central Amygdala Glutamate Responses to Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide