Dopamine is essential for striatal function and learning. Striatal dopamine release can be triggered by dopamine cell firing, but also by coordinated cholinergic interneuron activity, which stimulates dopamine release via presynaptic nicotinic acetylcholine receptors on dopamine axons. While acetylcholine-dependent dopamine release is well-documented ex vivo and under artificial optogenetic stimulation in vivo, its role during natural behavior has remained unclear. One possible endogenous driver of acetylcholine-dependent dopamine release is thalamic input, which provides strong excitatory drive to cholinergic interneurons. To examine whether thalamic input provokes acetylcholine-dependent dopamine release during behavior, we performed simultaneous fiber photometry recordings of striatal dopamine (GRAB-rDA3m) and thalamic axon activity (gCaMP8m) in the dorsomedial (DMS) and dorsolateral striatum (DLS) of mice learning the accelerating rotarod, a striatal-dependent task that demands precise and effortful motor control. Recordings were obtained on- and off-task and across days of training to capture the full arc of learning. Dopamine transients in DMS, but not DLS, were frequently coupled to peaks in thalamic axon activity via an acetylcholine-dependent mechanism. The occurrence of these thalamic-evoked DMS dopamine transients depended on learning, task engagement, and the recent history of dopamine activity, but did not contribute to motor error signals. Together, these findings establish thalamic input as a physiological driver of acetylcholine-dependent dopamine release in DMS. Moreover, they reveal that striatal sensitivity to this local release mechanism is dynamically gated by dopaminergic history, providing a compelling framework for understanding how local and soma-triggered dopamine signals are coordinated to support learning.

High-resolution extracellular electrophysiology is the gold standard for recording spikes from distributed neural populations and is especially powerful when combined with optogenetics for manipulation of specific cell types with high temporal resolution. We integrated these approaches into prototype Neuropixels Opto probes, which combine electronic and photonic circuits. These devices pack 960 electrical recording sites and two sets of 14 light emitters onto a 70-μm-wide, 1-cm-long shank, allowing spatially addressable optogenetic stimulation with blue and red light. In mouse cortex, Neuropixels Opto probes delivered high-quality recordings together with spatially addressable optogenetics, differentially activating or silencing neurons at distinct cortical depths. In the mouse striatum and other deep structures, Neuropixels Opto probes delivered efficient optotagging, facilitating the identification of two cell types in parallel. Neuropixels Opto probes represent a promising tool for recording, identifying and manipulating neuronal populations.

Although learning in response to extrinsic reinforcement is theorized to be driven by dopamine signals that encode the difference between expected and experienced rewards, skills that enable verbal or musical expression can be learned without extrinsic reinforcement. Instead, spontaneous execution of these skills is thought to be intrinsically reinforcing. Whether dopamine signals similarly guide learning of these intrinsically reinforced behaviours is unknown. In juvenile zebra finches learning from an adult tutor, dopamine signalling in a song-specialized basal ganglia region is required for successful song copying, a spontaneous, intrinsically reinforced process. Here we show that dopamine dynamics in the song basal ganglia faithfully track the learned quality of juvenile song performance on a rendition-by-rendition basis. Furthermore, dopamine release in the basal ganglia is driven not only by inputs from midbrain dopamine neurons classically associated with reinforcement learning but also by song premotor inputs, which act by means of local cholinergic signalling to elevate dopamine during singing. Although both cholinergic and dopaminergic signalling are necessary for juvenile song learning, only dopamine tracks the learned quality of song performance. Therefore, dopamine dynamics in the basal ganglia encode performance quality during self-directed, long-term learning of natural behaviours.

Basal Ganglia Advances is a collection highlighting research on the structure, function, and disorders of the basal ganglia. It features studies spanning neuroscience, clinical insights, and computational models, serving as a hub for advances in movement, cognition, and behavior.

Recent advances in the field of Voltage Imaging, with a special focus on new constructs and novel implementations.

Work related to place tuning, spatial navigation, orientation and direction. Mainly includes articles on connectivity in the hippocampus, retrosplenial cortex, and related areas.

An 80-year-old man with hypercalcemia and hyperparathyroidism was suspected of having a parathyroid adenoma, which was localized on [18F]F-choline-PET/CT. Still, after surgical removal of the suspected adenoma with an intraoperative parathyroid hormone decrease of >50%, severe hypercalcemia recurred quickly. A repeated [18F]F-choline-PET/CT raised suspicion of a single contralateral parathyroid adenoma or multiglandular disease. Given the inconclusive findings, a histological reassessment of the suspected parathyroid adenoma showed the presence of a singular vessel invasion, which alerted the diagnosis to parathyroid carcinoma. An additionally performed [18F]FDG-PET/CT revealed a liver lesion and MRI confirmed multiple liver metastases, which could not be seen on [18F]F-choline-PET/CT.

Chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) is a major cause of late morbidity after lung transplantation, and spirometry lacks the ability to detect regional lung changes. Thus, in this study, we investigated whether quantitative perfusion single-photon emission CT/CT parameters can distinguish CLAD from non-CLAD lungs and how they relate to pulmonary function.

Few studies have demonstrated the reliability of biodegradable osteosynthesis systems in orthognathic surgery; however, studies on the use of biodegradable osteosynthesis systems after mandibular osteotomy, including sagittal split ramus osteotomy (SSRO), are limited. This pilot study aimed to compare the safety and skeletal stability after segmental fixation using curved titanium and box-type biodegradable systems in SSRO for mandibular prognathism. Patients who underwent SSRO for correction of mandibular protrusion with malocclusion between September 2024 and March 2025 were included. After conventional SSRO, the bilateral segments were fixed using curved 6-hole titanium plates (Ti group) or 6-hole box-type biodegradable plates (Bi group). Lateral and frontal cephalograms and computed tomography images were obtained before (T0), 5±2 days after (T1), and 6±1 months after surgery (T2). In the Ti group, although the absolute change in the ramus plane and gonial angles from T1 to T2 was -2.3±5.1 and 3.6±7.4 degrees, respectively, no significant change was observed in any of the measured angles. In contrast, in the Bi group, significant changes from T1 to T2 were observed in the mandibular plane (4.8±2.3 degrees), ramus plane (-5.7±4.0 degrees), and gonial angles (8.8±4.2 degrees). The changes in the vertical and horizontal positions of point B, menton and pogonion were not significantly different between the 2 groups. The results of this pilot study with a small sample size suggested that in patients undergoing SSRO, bone segmental fixation using 6-hole box-type biodegradable plates may provide acceptable short-term skeletal stability and safety. Since definitive comparisons require larger prospective studies, further prospective studies with larger sample sizes are warranted.