An atlas of late prenatal human neurodevelopment resolved by single-nucleus transcriptomics.

Late prenatal development of the human neocortex encompasses a critical period of gliogenesis and cortical expansion. However, systematic single-cell analyses to resolve cellular diversity and gliogenic lineages of the third trimester are lacking. Here, we present a comprehensive single-nucleus RNA sequencing atlas of over 200,000 nuclei derived from the proliferative germinal matrix and laminating cortical plate of 15 prenatal, non-pathological postmortem samples from 17 to 41 gestational weeks, and 3 adult controls.

Chemogenetic suppression of anterior cingulate cortical neurons projecting to the visual cortex disrupts attentional behavior in mice.

Aim: Attention is a goal-directed cognitive process that facilitates the detection of task-relevant sensory stimuli from dynamic environments. Anterior cingulate cortical area (ACA) is known to play a key role in attentional behavior, but the specific circuits mediating attention remain largely unknown. As ACA modulates sensory processing in the visual cortex (VIS), we aim to test a hypothesis that frontal top-down neurons projecting from ACA to VIS (ACA ) contributes to visual attention behavior through chemogenetic approach.

Nicotinic regulation of local and long-range input balance drives top-down attentional circuit maturation.

Cognitive function depends on frontal cortex development; however, the mechanisms driving this process are poorly understood. Here, we identify that dynamic regulation of the nicotinic cholinergic system is a key driver of attentional circuit maturation associated with top-down frontal neurons projecting to visual cortex. The top-down neurons receive robust cholinergic inputs, but their nicotinic tone decreases following adolescence by increasing expression of a nicotinic brake, shifts a balance between local and long-range inputs onto top-down frontal neurons following adolescence and promotes the establishment of attentional behavior in adulthood.

Post-error recruitment of frontal sensory cortical projections promotes attention in mice.

The frontal cortex, especially the anterior cingulate cortex area (ACA), is essential for exerting cognitive control after errors, but the mechanisms that enable modulation of attention to improve performance after errors are poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that during a mouse visual attention task, ACA neurons projecting to the visual cortex (VIS; ACA neurons) are recruited selectively by recent errors. Optogenetic manipulations of this pathway collectively support the model that rhythmic modulation of ACA neurons in anticipation of visual stimuli is crucial for adjusting performance following errors.