Nestled deep in the brain, the hippocampus is the seat of spatial cognition. Specialized hippocampal neurons fire in consistent patterns thought to construct mental maps that help us navigate the world—in general, researchers believed there was one map for every … Continue reading
Journal Club
Highlighting recently published papers selected by Academy members
Category Archives: Neuroscience
Judging others based on the rewards they receive correlates with political leanings
Which employee deserves the highest salary? Should a professor receive tenure? Did my spouse do their fair share of the household chores? These types of questions all require people to pass judgment on the effort expended by others. According to … Continue reading
Categories: Journal Club | Neuroscience | Political Science | Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
Tagged decision-making, politics, rewards
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Dopamine-making neurons, an ongoing mystery, play a bigger role in reinforcing learning than in initiating action
Deep in the midbrain, one type of neuron has two crucial jobs when it comes to acting while anticipating a reward—a state also known as Pavlovian conditioning. Called dopaminergic (DA) neurons, they can link a signal, such as a sound … Continue reading
For choices involving uncertainty, the brain simplifies the math that drives our decisions
Every day, people make countless decisions, big and small: Should I buy that new house? Do I want chocolate or vanilla ice cream? A recent study suggests that when faced with uncertainty regarding a choice, how a person evaluates their … Continue reading
Journal Club: Neurons fire in sync, helping elucidate the biological basis of learning
Our brains change as we learn. But how exactly does a cluster of neurons change their activity or connections? It seems the phenomenon is due, at least in part, to neurons starting to fire in sync, according to a recent … Continue reading
Categories: Cell Biology | Journal Club | Neuroscience
Tagged learning, maze, memory, neurons, plasticity, prefrontal cortex, rat
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Journal Club: Newly discovered ion channel gene promises disease insights
The molecular identity and precise function of a commonly expressed cell-membrane chloride channel has long been a mystery. A recent study in Science uncovers the gene responsible for the channel, potentially shedding light on its role in the body. Researchers … Continue reading
Categories: Cell Biology | Journal Club | Medical Sciences | Neuroscience
Tagged acidosis, ASIC, chloride channel, CRISPR, gated pore, heart attack, ion channel, membrane protein, PAC, stroke, TMEM206
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Journal Club: Brain scans and behavior suggest oxytocin can change perceptions of fairness
Some people are more generous in social situations—offering to cover the dinner bill for example. Others are more individualistic, preferring to keep resources for themselves. A recent study in Nature Neuroscience finds that perceptions of fairness vary from person-to-person based … Continue reading
Categories: Journal Club | Neuroscience
Tagged amygdala, fairness, orbitofrontal cortex, oxytocin, prosocial
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Journal Club: Low-intensity focused ultrasound shows promise as tool to probe deep brain function
To study the brain’s networks of neurons, neuroscientists typically alter the activity in one area, and observe the cascade of effects on others—something like unscrewing one bulb in a string of Christmas lights and observing as others go dim. But … Continue reading
Categories: Journal Club | Neuroscience
Tagged amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, frontal cortex, ultrasound
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Journal Club: Pinpointing theory of mind deficiencies in autism
Around age four, preschoolers learn that other people have unique thoughts and feelings, an inner life. These children start to be able to predict a person’s behavior based on that understanding. They start developing theory of mind (ToM). That developmental … Continue reading
Categories: Journal Club | Neuroscience | Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
Tagged ASD, autism, theory of mind
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Journal Club: Newly solved structure of a GABA receptor could offer drug design insights
Neurons message each other with the help of excitatory or inhibitory neurotransmitters. But to actually deliver those messages, the neurotransmitters must dock with protein receptors embedded in the cell membranes of adjacent neurons. Of particular interest in the human brain … Continue reading
Categories: Journal Club | Neuroscience | Pharmacology
Tagged cryo-EM, depression, epilepsy, GABA receptor, ligand, neurotransmitter, X-ray crystallography
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Journal Club: Key protein family helps govern sense of touch in both plants and animals
Compared to their knowledge of other senses, scientists know relatively little about how cells sense touch. A newly confirmed family of mechanosensors, comprising more than a dozen members and present in both plants and animals, is an important step toward … Continue reading
Categories: Cell Biology | Journal Club | Neuroscience
Tagged cell membrane, cell wall, ion channel, mechanosensor, OSCA protein, sense of touch, TMEM63 protein
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