Quantitative analysis of behavior coupled with computational modeling reveal the set of circuit-level principles that underlie cerebellar-dependent motor learning in smooth pursuit eye movements of monkeys across timescales.
The neuromodulator acetylcholine contributes to state-dependent modulation of motor vigor and variability by direct action on songbird premotor cortex, bypassing basal ganglia circuitry.
Teaching signals from "tutor" brain areas should be adapted to the plasticity mechanisms in "student" areas to achieve efficient learning in two-stage systems such as the vocal control circuit of the songbird.
Generation of a premotor/motor neuron comprehensive TEM reconstruction, functional optogenetics, and recurrent network modeling reveals different phase relationships among a subset of Drosophila motor neurons in forward versus backward locomotion.
Inspired by the sparse, sequential neural activity patterns observed in striatum, a new circuit model implements variable-speed activity, the encoding of multiple sequences, and a tutor/student relationship between cortex and striatum.
Retrograde transport of NT-3 stimulated the reorganization of lumbar neural circuitry and synaptic connectivity remote to a thoracic SCI, along with improved behavioral recovery.
Coordinated activation and deactivation of inhibitory neurons triggers sequential muscle contractions that enable fruit fly larvae to propel themselves backwards and forwards.
Using targeted functional manipulations of neural activity to map neuromodulatory connections can deliver considerable insight into the functional architecture of a behaviorally important network even in the absence of information about its synaptic connectivity.
Signals conveyed from two different senses from a given point in space converge onto the same neurons of the optic tectum that trigger the gaze-control-system, and at the same time inhibit other parts of the tectal motor map.
