A distinct cortical code for socially learned threat.

Animals can learn about sources of danger while minimizing their own risk by observing how others respond to threats. However, the distinct neural mechanisms by which threats are learned through social observation (known as observational fear learning (OFL)) to generate behavioural responses specific to such threats remain poorly understood. The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) performs several key functions that may underlie OFL, including processing of social information and disambiguation of threat cues.

The rostral intralaminar nuclear complex of the thalamus supports striatally mediated action reinforcement.

The dorsal striatum (DS) mediates the selection of actions for reward acquisition necessary for survival. Striatal pathology contributes to several neuropsychiatric conditions, including aberrant selection of actions for specific rewards in addiction. A major source of glutamate driving striatal activity is the rostral intralaminar nuclei (rILN) of the thalamus.

BK channel properties correlate with neurobehavioral severity in three -linked channelopathy mouse models.

KCNMA1 forms the pore of BK K channels, which regulate neuronal and muscle excitability. Recently, genetic screening identified heterozygous variants in a subset of patients with debilitating paroxysmal non-kinesigenic dyskinesia, presenting with or without epilepsy (PNKD3). However, the relevance of mutations and the basis for clinical heterogeneity in PNKD3 has not been established.

Intersectional discrimination from black women, white women, black men, or white men impacts young adult black women's affective states and risky health cognitions.

Objective: Black women experience pronounced inequalities in alcohol use and sexual risk outcomes. Racial discrimination is a known contributor to health inequalities. However, Black women face unique and intersectional forms of discrimination beyond racial discrimination.

Dorsolateral striatum engagement during reversal learning.

Most experimental preparations demonstrate a role for dorsolateral striatum (DLS) in stimulus-response, but not outcome-based, learning. Here, we assessed DLS involvement in a touchscreen-based reversal task requiring mice to update choice following a change in stimulus-reward contingencies. In vivo single-unit recordings in the DLS showed reversal produced a population-level shift from excited to inhibited neuronal activity prior to choices being made.

Prefrontal Regulation of Punished Ethanol Self-administration.

Background: A clinical hallmark of alcohol use disorder is persistent drinking despite potential adverse consequences. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) are positioned to exert top-down control over subcortical regions, such as the nucleus accumbens shell (NAcS) and basolateral amygdala, which encode positive and negative valence of ethanol (EtOH)-related stimuli. Prior rodent studies have implicated these regions in regulation of punished EtOH self-administration (EtOH-SA).

A novel multichoice touchscreen paradigm for assessing cognitive flexibility in mice.

Cognitive flexibility refers to various processes which enable behaviors to be modified on the basis of a change in the contingencies between stimuli or responses and their associated outcomes. Reversal learning is a form of cognitive flexibility which measures the ability to adjust responding based on a switch in the stimulus-outcome contingencies of, typically two, perceptually distinct stimuli. Reversal tasks have provided valuable insight into the neural basis of cognitive flexibility, implicating brain regions including the lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC) and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC).

Dorsolateral Striatum Engagement Interferes with Early Discrimination Learning.

In current models, learning the relationship between environmental stimuli and the outcomes of actions involves both stimulus-driven and goal-directed systems, mediated in part by the DLS and DMS, respectively. However, though these models emphasize the importance of the DLS in governing actions after extensive experience has accumulated, there is growing evidence of DLS engagement from the onset of training. Here, we used in vivo photosilencing to reveal that DLS recruitment interferes with early touchscreen discrimination learning.