Shaunice The Scientist

A deep learning framework has been developed by researchers from Aalto University to identify the gene-gene interactions underlying a given phenotype by taking into account all single nucleotide polymorphisms within a set of genes or complex interactions and calculating their statistical significance.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) aid in discovering risk genes or alleles linked to a specific disease or a trait. This technique examines a population’s whole DNA collection in search of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Each study may simultaneously examine hundreds or thousands of SNPs. Then, researchers can pinpoint SNPs that are more common in individuals with a particular disease than those without it. Investigators can use these SNPs to identify genes that are probably involved in the development of the disease. They are thought to be connected with the disease.

What it looks like when neurons make connections and communicate with each other

Connecting neurons in the brain – This is what your thoughts look like

Vestibular Precision at the Level of Perception, Eye Movements, Posture, and Neurons. Diaz-Artiles, A., & Karmali, F. (2021). Neuroscience, 468, 282–320.

How Cortical Circuits Implement Cortical Computations: Mouse Visual Cortex as a Model. Niell, C. M., & Scanziani, M. (2021). Annual Review of Neuroscience, 44(1), 517–546.

Neurophysiology of Human Perceptual Decision-Making. O’Connell, R. G., & Kelly, S. P. (2021). Annual Review of Neuroscience, 44(1), 495–516.

Enhanced rationality in autism spectrum disorder. Rozenkrantz, L., D’Mello, A. M., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2021). Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 25(8), 685–696.

Dense Circuit Reconstruction to Understand Neuronal Computation: Focus on Zebrafish. Friedrich, R. W., & Wanner, A. A. (2021). Annual Review of Neuroscience, 44(1), 275–293.

Decision-making: from neuroscience to neuroeconomics—an overview. Serra, D. (2021). Theory and Decision, 91(1), 1–80.

Stress, memory, and implications for major depression. Sousa, G. M. de, Vargas, H. D. Q., Barbosa, F. F., & Galvão-Coelho, N. L. (2021). Behavioural Brain Research, 412, 113410.

The Cortical Motor Areas and the Emergence of Motor Skills: A Neuroanatomical Perspective. Strick, P. L., Dum, R. P., & Rathelot, J.-A. (2021). Annual Review of Neuroscience, 44(1), 425–447.

A completely locked-in patient is able to type out words and short sentences to his family, including what he would like to eat, after being implanted with a device that enables him to control a keyboard with his mind.

The findings, published in Nature Communications, overturn previous assumptions about the communicative abilities of people who have lost all voluntary muscle control, including movement of the eyes or mouth, as well as giving a unique insight into what it’s like to be in a “locked in” state.

Neurology in Art

Notes from the artists: 

1. Nervous System "A magical sunrise in a wheat field, the sound of the morning wind, waves of grass, and sun rays, inspired me to create this piece.“ by artist I. Aya. 2. Abstract Brain Anatomy. “Dedicated to my dear friend who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, this piece represents the feeling of freedom, fluidity, and beauty that we all possess.” by artist T. Bahia. 3. Brain Anatomy Line. “Drowning is an art of learning to survive, be it in water or thoughts. This art piece gives a sensation of movement and power in the room of every neuroanatomy enthusiast.” by artist I. Aya. 4. Abstract Psychiatry. “Through the use of darkness and secrecy, this painting provides a surreal illusion to human eyes. As part of this art, anguish is mixed with comfort and anger with obedience. The eyes will appear from nowhere as you focus more on the brain.” by artist T. Bahia. 5. Cerebral Angiography. “This art piece subverts the traditional brain angiography by approaching the vasculature with a dazzling sentiment that warms up your space.” by artist T. Bahia.

Memory and decision making interact to shape the value of unchosen options. Biderman, N., & Shohamy, D. (2021). Nature Communications, 12, 4648.

The role of ventromedial prefrontal cortex in reward valuation and future thinking during intertemporal choice. Ciaramelli, E., De Luca, F., Kwan, D., Mok, J., Bianconi, F., Knyagnytska, V., … Rosenbaum, R. S. (2021). eLife, 10, e67387.

Value signals guide abstraction during learning. Cortese, A., Yamamoto, A., Hashemzadeh, M., Sepulveda, P., Kawato, M., & De Martino, B. (2021). eLife, 10, e68943.

Collicular circuits for flexible sensorimotor routing. Duan, C. A., Pagan, M., Piet, A. T., Kopec, C. D., Akrami, A., Riordan, A. J., … Brody, C. D. (2021). Nature Neuroscience, 24(8), 1110–1120.

Pupal behavior emerges from unstructured muscle activity in response to neuromodulation in Drosophila. Elliott, A. D., Berndt, A., Houpert, M., Roy, S., Scott, R. L., Chow, C. C., … White, B. H. (2021). eLife, 10, e68656.

In vivo endocannabinoid dynamics at the timescale of physiological and pathological neural activity. Farrell, J. S., Colangeli, R., Dong, A., George, A. G., Addo-Osafo, K., Kingsley, P. J., … Soltesz, I. (2021). Neuron, 109(15), 2398-2403.e4.

Interpreting wide-band neural activity using convolutional neural networks. Frey, M., Tanni, S., Perrodin, C., O’Leary, A., Nau, M., Kelly, J., … Barry, C. (2021). eLife, 10, e66551.

Orthogonal neural codes for speech in the infant brain. Gennari, G., Marti, S., Palu, M., Fló, A., & Dehaene-Lambertz, G. (2021). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(31).

Brain Activity Fluctuations Propagate as Waves Traversing the Cortical Hierarchy. Gu, Y., Sainburg, L. E., Kuang, S., Han, F., Williams, J. W., Liu, Y., … Liu, X. (2021). Cerebral Cortex, 31(9), 3986–4005.

Clustering and control for adaptation uncovers time-warped spike time patterns in cortical networks in vivo. Isbister, J. B., Reyes-Puerta, V., Sun, J.-J., Horenko, I., & Luhmann, H. J. (2021). Scientific Reports, 11, 15066.

Causal role for the primate superior colliculus in the computation of evidence for perceptual decisions. Jun, E. J., Bautista, A. R., Nunez, M. D., Allen, D. C., Tak, J. H., Alvarez, E., & Basso, M. A. (2021). Nature Neuroscience, 24(8), 1121–1131.

Inhibitory gating of coincidence-dependent sensory binding in secondary auditory cortex. Kline, A. M., Aponte, D. A., Tsukano, H., Giovannucci, A., & Kato, H. K. (2021). Nature Communications, 12, 4610.

Cerebellar granule cell axons support high-dimensional representations. Lanore, F., Cayco-Gajic, N. A., Gurnani, H., Coyle, D., & Silver, R. A. (2021). Nature Neuroscience, 24(8), 1142–1150.

Noise Correlations for Faster and More Robust Learning. Nassar, M. R., Scott, D., & Bhandari, A. (2021). Journal of Neuroscience, 41(31), 6740–6752.

Human Hippocampal Neurons Track Moments in a Sequence of Events. Reddy, L., Zoefel, B., Possel, J. K., Peters, J., Dijksterhuis, D. E., Poncet, M., … Self, M. W. (2021). Journal of Neuroscience, 41(31), 6714–6725.

Enhanced hippocampal theta rhythmicity and emergence of eta oscillation in virtual reality. Safaryan, K., & Mehta, M. R. (2021). Nature Neuroscience, 24(8), 1065–1070.

Neural Encoding of Auditory Statistics. Skerritt-Davis, B., & Elhilali, M. (2021). Journal of Neuroscience, 41(31), 6726–6739.

An oscillating computational model can track pseudo-rhythmic speech by using linguistic predictions. ten Oever, S., & Martin, A. E. (2021). eLife, 10, e68066.

Tracking the relation between gist and item memory over the course of long-term memory consolidation. Zeng, T., Tompary, A., Schapiro, A. C., & Thompson-Schill, S. L. (2021). eLife, 10, e65588.