The neurotropic alphaherpesviruses infect and spread trans-synaptically within the vertebrate nervous system. Recurrent diseases are often manifested at the periphery of the host organism but occasional dissemination of the virus to the brain results in fatal encephalitis. Interactions between viral and host cellular proteins are integral to the success of...
During movement, the dendrites of spinal motoneurons receive steady excitatory and inhibitory synaptic input from supraspinal sources, interneurons, and sensory afferents. Motoneurons also have dendritic voltage sensitive ion channels. Most notable is a persistent inward current (PIC), which can enhance the amplitude of synaptic input by several fold. PICs are...
Estrogens are traditionally thought to act through a nuclear receptor-mediated mechanism to regulate gene transcription in target tissues. The hippocampus has been shown to be sensitive to estrogen; estrogen regulates GABAergic inhibition and spine density of dorsal CA1 pyramidal cells. However, very few neurons expressing nuclear estrogen receptors (ERs) have...
The set of experiments described here test the hypothesis that the declarative memory system supported by the medial temporal lobe and habit/procedural memory supported by the basal ganglia are recruited when learning novel category representations. The theory guiding specific hypotheses about these neural systems and their operation in category learning...
In several neurodegenerative diseases, the microtubule-associated protein tau self-aggregates to form filaments that accumulate in neurons and/or glia, although the relationship between tau aggregation and cell death is a subject of debate. The amino terminus of tau is involved in conformational changes that appear critical for filament formation, hinting at...
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a highly heterogeneous and pervasive developmental disorder that affects nearly 1 in 150 children. A primary indicator of ASD is behavioral language impairment with respect to social communication, but the neurophysiology behind this impairment is not well understood. Both the perception and production of prosody...
Synapses in the central nervous system vary widely in how they transmit and store information. The properties of short-term and long-term plasticity, in particular, seem to be specific for each class of synapse studied. The types of plasticity expressed at a particular synapse determine how it processes, transmits and possibly...
Peripheral neuropathic pain is a debilitating affliction for which there is little effective treatment. Patients suffer from symptoms ranging from loss of sensation to hyperalgesia and allodynia. The neuroinflammatory process in chronic pain conditions has become a main focus of study because of the release of proinflammatory cytokines, which can...
The vertebrate brain, which is made up of a vast array of individual neurons, is responsible for controlling numerous functions and behaviors, including distinguishing between visual cues, learning to navigate in a new environment, or making complex decisions. These neurons form specific networks that receive, process, and integrate chemical and...
Saccades are rapid eye movements that bring visual images into focus by placing them on the fovea. The control of accurate and precise saccades is essential for normal visual perception of the world around us. Disruptions in saccade production are the hallmark of several neurological disorders such as schizophrenia and...