Publications by authors named "Mengjun Sheng"
Article Synopsis
- Researchers developed a new genetically encoded voltage indicator (GEVI) called ASAP5, which offers improved detection of excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) and action potentials (APs) with better signal quality compared to previous indicators.
- ASAP5 was able to detect both spiking and subthreshold neuronal activities in real-time, showing its effectiveness in both animal models and cultured human neurons, even capturing small EPSPs of about 1-mV.
- The study revealed that EPSP amplitudes decrease as they move away from the source, with further implications for using voltage imaging in studying neuronal dysfunction related to diseases, including those affecting human neurons.
Motor skill learning induces long-lasting synaptic plasticity at not only the inputs, such as dendritic spines, but also at the outputs to the striatum of motor cortical neurons. However, very little is known about the activity and structural plasticity of corticostriatal axons during learning in the adult brain. Here, we used longitudinal in vivo two-photon imaging to monitor the activity and structure of thousands of corticostriatal axonal boutons in the dorsolateral striatum in awake mice.
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- The dorsolateral striatum (DLS) is crucial for motor and procedural learning, with its role linked to spiny projection neurons (SPNs) expressing D1 and D2 receptors (D1R and D2R).
- Using long-term imaging, researchers observed distinct firing patterns in D1R and D2R neurons during a lever-pushing task, with specific firing occurring during different task phases.
- Chemogenetic silencing of these neurons disrupted learned motor actions, highlighting how the organized firing of D1R and D2R ensembles is vital for executing and refining motor behaviors during learning.