Research Area Archives - Inscopix, Inc.

A line attractor encoding a persistent internal state requires neuropeptide signaling

George Mountoufaris et al.
Cell | August 26, 2024
Internal states drive survival behaviors, but their neural implementation is poorly understood. Recently, we identified a line attractor in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) that represents a state of aggressiveness....

Egocentric neural representation of geometric vertex in the retrosplenial cortex

Kyerl Park et al.
Nature Communications | August 21, 2024
Egocentric neural representations of environmental features, such as edges and vertices, are important for constructing a geometrically detailed egocentric cognitive map for goal-directed navigation and episodic memory....

Negative feedback control of hypothalamic feeding circuits by the taste of food

Tara J. Aitken et al.
Neuron | August 16, 2024
The rewarding taste of food is critical for motivating animals to eat, but whether taste has a parallel function in promoting meal termination is not well understood. Here, we show that hunger-promoting agouti-related...

Divergent Recruitment of Developmentally-Defined Neuronal Ensembles Supports Memory Dynamics

Vilde A. Kveim et al.
Science | August 16, 2024
Memories are dynamic constructs whose properties change with time and experience. The biological mechanisms underpinning these dynamics remain elusive, particularly concerning how shifts in the composition of...

Genetically- and spatially-defined basolateral amygdala neurons control food consumption and social interaction

Hansol Lim et al.
Nature Communications | August 11, 2024
The basolateral amygdala (BLA) contains discrete neuronal circuits that integrate positive or negative emotional information and drive the appropriate innate and learned behaviors. Whether these circuits consist of...

Population-level coding of avoidance learning in medial prefrontal cortex

Benjamin Ehret et al.
Nature Neuroscience | July 29, 2024
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been proposed to link sensory inputs and behavioral outputs to mediate the execution of learned behaviors. However, how such a link is implemented has remained unclear. To measure...

Neurotensin-specific corticothalamic circuit regulates innate response conflict

Geunhong Park et al.
Current Biology | July 26, 2024
Animals must simultaneously select and balance multiple action contingencies in ambiguous situations: for instance, evading danger during feeding. This has rarely been examined in the context of information selection;...

Distinctive Neurophysiological Signatures of Analgesia after Inflammatory Pain in the ACC of Freely Moving Mice

Samuel T. Kissinger et al.
Journal of Neuroscience | July 17, 2024
Preclinical assessments of pain have often relied upon behavioral measurements and anesthetized neurophysiological recordings. Current technologies enabling large-scale neural recordings, however, have the potential to...

GLP-1 increases preingestive satiation via hypothalamic circuits in mice and humans

Kyu Sik Kim et al.
Science | June 27, 2024
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are effective antiobesity drugs. However, the precise central mechanisms of GLP-1RAs remain elusive. We administered GLP-1RAs to patients with obesity and...

A cocaine-activated ensemble exerts increased control over behavior while decreasing in size

Kimberly C. Thibeault et al.
Biological Psychiatry | June 18, 2024
Background Substance use disorder (SUD) is characterized by long-lasting changes in reward-related brain regions, such as the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Previous work has shown that cocaine exposure induces plasticity in...

GABAergic disinhibition from the BNST to PNOC^ARC neurons promotes HFD-induced hyperphagia

Tamara Sotelo-Hitschfeld et al.
Cell Reports | June 11, 2024
Activation of prepronociceptin (PNOC)-expressing neurons in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) promotes high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced hyperphagia. In turn, PNOCARC neurons can inhibit the anorexic response of proopiomelanocortin...

Lateral parabrachial FoxP2 neurons regulate respiratory responses to hypercapnia

Satvinder Kaur et al.
Nature Communications | May 25, 2024
About half of the neurons in the parabrachial nucleus (PB) that are activated by CO2 are located in the external lateral (el) subnucleus, express calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), and cause forebrain arousal. We...

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