Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences最新文献

The tail of the striatum (TS) is increasingly recognized as a unique subdivision of the striatum, characterized by its dense sensory inputs and projections received from a distinct group of dopamine neurons. Separate lines of research have characterized the functional role of TS and TS-projecting dopamine neurons in three realms: saccadic eye movement toward valuable visual stimuli, tone-guided choice between two options, and defensive responses to threatening stimuli. We propose a framework for reconciling these diverse roles as varied implementations of a conserved response to salient stimuli, with dopamine in TS providing a teaching signal to promote quick attentional shifts that facilitate stimulus-driven orientation and/or avoidance.

With the expanding legalization and decriminalization, cannabis price has decreased, and its use increased along with the content of its main ingredient, THC. Although prevalence rates for its consumption during adolescence appear unchanged, the use of more potent cannabis and the availability of powerful synthetic cannabinoids have enhanced the health risks associated with its use. The prevalence of cannabis consumption during pregnancy has also risen because of its availability/acceptability and the misconception that cannabis is safe. Evidence shows that cannabis use during development is associated with cognitive deficits and increased risks of mental illnesses. Particularly, exposure to cannabis in utero or during adolescence derails the normal development of the dopamine system and produces aberrant behaviors. In this review, we discuss the long-term impact of THC exposure during development on behaviors related to mesolimbic dopamine system function, and we highlight areas of research that deserve more investigation in the future.

The glucocorticoid hormones corticosterone and cortisol (CORT) are pleiotropic master regulators of resilience. This pleiotropy refers to the multifaceted CORT action in maintaining fitness and to promote stress-coping and adaptation. Mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) and glucocorticoid receptors (GR) mediate this wide diversity of CORT actions complementary through rapid nongenomic and slower genomic mechanisms. The current contribution reports the following: i) brisk CORT reactivity and secretion patterns as hallmarks of resilience outcome, (ii) MR-mediated selection of coping styles and GR-mediated adaptation as a CORT-dependent switch in support of the resilience process, and (iii) the application of selective GR modulators to improve on resilience by attenuating inflammatory and emotional components of stress-related neurodegeneration. These findings highlight how CORT via MR and GR activation may modulate and monitor the resilience process and outcome in particular contexts.

Animals are adapted to their natural habitats. Their brains perceive the world via their sensory systems, compute information together with that of internal states and autonomous activity, and generate behavioral outputs. However, how do these processes evolve across evolution? We discuss the evolution of the brains of teleost fishes, the largest vertebrates group. Although their overall brain organization follows a shared Bauplan and their brain can serve similar functions, significant differences exist between teleost and tetrapod brains at all levels, shape, size, and connectivity. It has become evident that many evolutionary paths can lead to similar anatomical/functional traits independently in different taxa. We here present some examples of teleost sensory organs, afferent sensory pathways, and even some higher-order cognitive functions such as tool-using behaviors that evolved through convergent mechanisms. It appears that the nervous system is highly ‘plastic’ during evolution, and more convergent evolution has taken place than is commonly thought.

Experience-based neuroplasticity in the healthy brain is a well-documented finding, with functional and structural adaptations in cortical and subcortical structures reported as the brain’s response to cognitively challenging experiences. These experiences include bi-/multilingualism: speaking more than one language entails increased cognitive demands related to language acquisition, processing and control, which affect subcortical structures subserving these processes, including the basal ganglia and the cerebellum. This paper reviews evidence on bilingualism-induced subcortical neuroplasticity at the level of brain structure, function, and metabolism and explores how it interacts with brain decline. As such, it highlights bi-/multilingualism as a test case for studying long-term neuroplastic effects in the brain.

New techniques for large-scale neural recordings from diverse animals are reshaping comparative systems neuroscience. This growth necessitates fresh conceptual paradigms for comparing neural circuits and activity patterns. Here, we take a systems neuroscience approach to early neural evolution, emphasizing the importance of considering nervous systems as multiply modulated, continuous dynamical systems. We argue that endogenous neural activity likely arose early in evolution to organize behaviors and internal states at the organismal level. This connects to a rich literature on the physiology of endogenous activity in small neural circuits: a field that has built links between data and dynamical systems models. Such models offer mechanistic insight and have robust predictive power. Using these tools, we suggest that the emergence of intrinsically active neurons and periodic dynamics played a critical role in the ascendancy of nervous systems and that dynamical systems present an appealing framework for comparing across species.

Our daily lives require cognitive flexibility to optimize our behavior in changing environments. Cognitive psychology has studied this topic in a variety of ways — from task switching to studies of sustained attention and attention lapses in simple laboratory and more complex tasks. The current paper integrates these topics and briefly reviews the neuroscience underlying the external and internal attentional states responsible for cognitive flexibility. Functional connectivity between brain networks associated with cognitive control (e.g. dorsal attention, frontoparietal, and ventral attention networks) and mind wandering (e.g. default mode network) play an important role in cognitive flexibility. The antagonistic relationship between these and other attentional networks mediate task switching and task engagement. Here, we provide a summary of recent findings on how these dynamics between brain networks are associated with flexible cognitive control between tasks and within a task.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system. Patterns of tissue damage in MS are not random, and some regions are more commonly and more severely affected than others. Gray matter changes in MS are highly clinically relevant and include neurodegeneration in the form of atrophy but also altered functional communication between brain areas. One important structure heavily affected by MS yet still understudied is the cerebellum. This structure has a complex cytoarchitecture and remains difficult to scan in vivo due to its heavily folded cortex and placement in the posterior fossa. Recent insights have shown that the cerebellum is not only involved in motor functioning but also has a clear role in cognitive performance, driven by its network connections to cognitive networks. This review outlines recent insights into cerebellar damage and cerebellar network changes in MS and focuses on their relevance for cognition.

Significant strides have been made in the translation of ultrasound neuromodulation for use in humans. These advancements have been pivotal in overcoming the challenges associated with delivering ultrasound to the brain through the skull. This undertaking has necessitated the development of specialized hardware, the integration of precise image guidance systems, and extensive research to improve methods to best plan and enact transcranial focused ultrasound (FUS) therapy. To validate and optimize transcranial FUS procedures, various methods have been devised to transmit, simulate, and measure ultrasound pressure fields. Here, we cover the latest breakthroughs in transcranial FUS technology, with a particular focus on the efforts undertaken to plan and validate therapeutic interventions, ensuring their safety and efficacy across a diverse range of subjects.