Configuration of electrical synapses filters sensory information to drive behavioral choices.

Synaptic configurations underpin how the nervous system processes sensory information to produce a behavioral response. This is best understood for chemical synapses, and we know far less about how electrical synaptic configurations modulate sensory information processing and context-specific behaviors. We discovered that innexin 1 (INX-1), a gap junction protein that forms electrical synapses, is required to deploy context-specific behavioral strategies underlying thermotaxis behavior in C.

Specific configurations of electrical synapses filter sensory information to drive choices in behavior.

Synaptic configurations in precisely wired circuits underpin how sensory information is processed by the nervous system, and the emerging animal behavior. This is best understood for chemical synapses, but far less is known about how electrical synaptic configurations modulate, and in specific neurons, sensory information processing and context-specific behaviors. We discovered that INX-1, a gap junction protein that forms electrical synapses, is required to deploy context-specific behavioral strategies during thermotaxis behavior.

Exergaming delivery of a balance and fall prevention program for older adults: A feasibility study.

Objective: Older adults are at high risk of falls and this problem calls for efficient and scalable interventions. This study investigated whether a motion capture system paired with balance training exergaming software is a feasible strategy to deliver therapeutic exercise to older adults in an aged care facility.

Methods: This study analyzed data from a quality improvement rehabilitation initiative.

The Genomic and Phenotypic Landscape of Ichthyosis: An Analysis of 1000 Kindreds.

Importance: Ichthyoses are clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorders characterized by scaly skin. Despite decades of investigation identifying pathogenic variants in more than 50 genes, clear genotype-phenotype associations have been difficult to establish.

Objective: To expand the genotypic and phenotypic spectra of ichthyosis and delineate genotype-phenotype associations.

Contagious yawning is not a signal of empathy: no evidence of familiarity, gender or prosociality biases in dogs.

Contagious yawning has been suggested to be a potential signal of empathy in non-human animals. However, few studies have been able to robustly test this claim. Here, we ran a Bayesian multilevel reanalysis of six studies of contagious yawning in dogs.

Integration of Plasticity Mechanisms within a Single Sensory Neuron of C. elegans Actuates a Memory.

Neural plasticity, the ability of neurons to change their properties in response to experiences, underpins the nervous system's capacity to form memories and actuate behaviors. How different plasticity mechanisms act together in vivo and at a cellular level to transform sensory information into behavior is not well understood. We show that in Caenorhabditis elegans two plasticity mechanisms-sensory adaptation and presynaptic plasticity-act within a single cell to encode thermosensory information and actuate a temperature preference memory.

Establishing and Validating an Ichthyosis Severity Index.

We designed and validated a Visual Index for Ichthyosis Severity for scale and erythema that provides (1) written descriptions of the features characteristic of each level of severity, (2) visual standards for four body sites, and (3) two distinct standards to account for different types of scale. We tested the Visual Index for Ichthyosis Severity for reliability and reproducibility using two different settings: one that utilized scoring of 60 test photographs by 10 dermatologists, and one with in-person evaluations on 85 subjects by 12 dermatologists at the Foundation for Ichthyosis and Related Skin Types conference. The validation process revealed high reliability and reproducibility for both scale and erythema.