Dr. Adam Hantman
- Blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has revolutionized our understanding of the brain activity landscape, bridging circuit neuroscience in animal models with noninvasive brain mapping in humans. This immensely utilized technique, however, faces challenges such as acoustic noise, electromagnetic interference, motion artifacts, magnetic-field inhomogeneity, and limitations in sensitivity and specificity. Here, we introduce Steady-state […]Martin J MacKinnon
- Placebo effects are notable demonstrations of mind-body interactions^(1,2). During pain perception, in the absence of any treatment, an expectation of pain relief can reduce the experience of pain-a phenomenon known as placebo analgesia^(3-6). However, despite the strength of placebo effects and their impact on everyday human experience and the failure of clinical trials for new […]Chong Chen
- Thalamocortical loops have a central role in cognition and motor control, but precisely how they contribute to these processes is unclear. Recent studies showing evidence of plasticity in thalamocortical synapses indicate a role for the thalamus in shaping cortical dynamics through learning. Since signals undergo a compression from the cortex to the thalamus, we hypothesized […]Kaushik J Lakshminarasimhan
- The interaction of descending neocortical outputs and subcortical premotor circuits is critical for shaping skilled movements. Two broad classes of motor cortical output projection neurons provide input to many subcortical motor areas: pyramidal tract (PT) neurons, which project throughout the neuraxis, and intratelencephalic (IT) neurons, which project within the cortex and subcortical striatum. It is […]Junchol Park
- To control reaching, the nervous system must generate large changes in muscle activation to drive the limb toward the target, and must also make smaller adjustments for precise and accurate behavior. Motor cortex controls the arm through projections to diverse targets across the central nervous system, but it has been challenging to identify the roles […]Jian-Zhong Guo
- Executing learned motor behaviors often requires the transformation of sensory cues into patterns of motor commands that generate appropriately timed actions. The cerebellum and thalamus are two key areas involved in shaping cortical output and movement, but the contribution of a cerebellar-thalamocortical pathway to voluntary movement initiation remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated how an […]Joshua Dacre
- Measuring the dynamics of neural processing across time scales requires following the spiking of thousands of individual neurons over milliseconds and months. To address this need, we introduce the Neuropixels 2.0 probe together with newly designed analysis algorithms. The probe has more than 5000 sites and is miniaturized to facilitate chronic implants in small mammals […]Nicholas A Steinmetz
- The external globus pallidus (GPe) is a critical node within the basal ganglia circuit. Phasic changes in the activity of GPe neurons during movement and their alterations in Parkinson's disease (PD) argue that the GPe is important in motor control. Parvalbumin-positive (PV^(+)) neurons and Npas1^(+) neurons are the two principal neuron classes in the GPe. […]Arin Pamukcu
- Adaptive movements are critical for animal survival. To guide future actions, the brain monitors various outcomes, including achievement of movement and appetitive goals. The nature of these outcome signals and their neuronal and network realization in the motor cortex (M1), which directs skilled movements, is largely unknown. Using a dexterity task, calcium imaging, optogenetic perturbations, […]Shahar Levy
- The motor cortex controls skilled arm movement by sending temporal patterns of activity to lower motor centres¹. Local cortical dynamics are thought to shape these patterns throughout movement execution^(2-4). External inputs have been implicated in setting the initial state of the motor cortex^(5,6), but they may also have a pattern-generating role. Here we dissect the […]Britton A Sauerbrei