Transient changes in the firing of midbrain dopamine neurons have been closely tied to the unidimensional value-based prediction error contained in temporal difference reinforcement learning models. However, whereas an abundance of work has now shown how well dopamine responses conform to the predictions of this hypothesis, far fewer studies have challenged its implicit assumption that dopamine is not involved in learning value-neutral features of reward. Here, we review studies in rats and humans that put this assumption to the test, and which suggest that dopamine transients provide a much richer signal that incorporates information that goes beyond integrated value.

The major pathological feature of Parkinson 's disease (PD), the second most common neurodegenerative disease and most common movement disorder, is the predominant degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, a part of the midbrain. Despite decades of research, the molecular mechanisms of the origin of the disease remain unknown. While the disease was initially viewed as a purely neuronal disorder, results from single-cell transcriptomics have suggested that oligodendrocytes may play an important role in the early stages of Parkinson's. Although these findings are of high relevance, particularly to the search for effective disease-modifying therapies, the actual functional role of oligodendrocytes in Parkinson's disease remains highly speculative and requires a concerted scientific effort to be better understood. This Unsolved Mystery discusses the limited understanding of oligodendrocytes in PD, highlighting unresolved questions regarding functional changes in oligodendroglia, the role of myelin in nigral dopaminergic neurons, the impact of the toxic environment, and the aggregation of alpha-synuclein within oligodendrocytes.

Understanding how corticostriatal circuits mediate behavioral selection and initiation in a naturalistic setting is critical to understanding behavior choice and execution in unconstrained situations. The central striatum (CS) is well poised to play an important role in these spontaneous processes. Using fiber photometry and optogenetics, we identify a role for CS in grooming initiation. However, CS-evoked movements resemble short grooming fragments, suggesting additional input is required to appropriately sustain behavior once initiated. Consistent with this idea, the anterior lateral motor area (ALM) demonstrates a slow ramp in activity that peaks at grooming termination, supporting a potential role for ALM in encoding grooming bout length. Furthermore, optogenetic stimulation of ALM-CS terminals generates sustained grooming responses. Finally, dual-region photometry indicates that CS activation precedes ALM during grooming. Taken together, these data support a model in which CS is involved in grooming initiation, while ALM may encode grooming bout length.

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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.

Despite fundamental advances in spatial omics, investigating cellular and molecular functions within their native environment remains a challenge in multiscale systems biology, especially in response to organ-level events. Here, we introduce Spatial ProBe (micro-ProBe), a multimodal imaging approach for spatial profiling of biological micro-environments. Spatial ProBe enables preprocessing, registration and correlative analysis of 2D and 3D imaging modalities, supported by an intuitive user interface. As an application, we investigated bone mechanobiology and characterised the cellular and molecular responses to mechanical loading during adaptation and regeneration, which continuously regulate the local microarchitecture. By integrating time-lapsed micro-computed tomography and end-point spatial transcriptomics, we profiled the local mechanical in vivo environment of thousands of musculoskeletal cells, revealing the spatiotemporal interplay between local mechanics and gene expression driving tissue development. Spatial ProBe marks a crucial advance in the characterisation of multiscale tissues and signalling, facilitating the exploration of targeted molecular therapies for pathological conditions.

Background: The Common Crane Grus grus, being widely distributed, abundant, and relatively easy to monitor, with long-distance migrations across diverse and sensitive habitats, is well-suited as a sentinel species for assessing the ecological integrity of the Central Asian Flyway (CAF). While migration routes and stopover sites of the Common Crane in the CAF are documented, seasonal variations in migration strategies, potential detours, bottlenecks, and stopover habitat selection, important factors for flyway conservation planning, remain poorly understood. To address this, we tracked five individuals from Gujarat, western India, to breeding sites in southwestern Siberia using solar-powered GPS-GSM transmitters, enabling high-resolution, multi-season analysis of their migration strategies, routes, timing, detours, bottlenecks, and stopover habitat selection. Results: The results highlighted seasonally differential migration strategies in Common Cranes. The analyses confirmed significant seasonal differences: Spring migration covered greater distances, lasted longer, and was slower, with higher stopover duration and reduced straightness. The observed migration routes deviated significantly from the simulated straight-line path, forming distinct detours likely to avoid the Hindu Kush mountains and take advantage of resource-rich areas. These detours resulted in routes that were 23.3% longer in autumn and 36.8% longer in spring compared to the shortest possible path. The tagged Common Cranes followed distinct seasonal migration routes that converged in Turkmenistan, creating migratory bottlenecks in Southern Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. At migration stopover sites, Common Cranes showed the highest probability of habitat use in bare ground (0.18) and cropland (0.13), suggesting a preference for open landscapes by the species. Conclusion: Our findings reveal the adaptive strategies of Common Cranes in response to seasonal and topographical challenges. Cranes undertake substantial detours to optimize energy expenditure and access favorable stopover habitats. The identification of migratory bottlenecks in Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan highlights the region's critical importance for conservation efforts for migratory birds.