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Biology Letters May 2024Neural circuits govern the interface between the external environment, internal cues and outwardly directed behaviours. To process multiple environmental stimuli and... (Review)
Review
Neural circuits govern the interface between the external environment, internal cues and outwardly directed behaviours. To process multiple environmental stimuli and integrate these with internal state requires considerable neural computation. Expansion in neural network size, most readily represented by whole brain size, has historically been linked to behavioural complexity, or the predominance of cognitive behaviours. Yet, it is largely unclear which aspects of circuit variation impact variation in performance. A key question in the field of evolutionary neurobiology is therefore how neural circuits evolve to allow improved behavioural performance or innovation. We discuss this question by first exploring how volumetric changes in brain areas reflect actual neural circuit change. We explore three major axes of neural circuit evolution-replication, restructuring and reconditioning of cells and circuits-and discuss how these could relate to broader phenotypes and behavioural variation. This discussion touches on the relevant uses and limitations of volumetrics, while advocating a more circuit-based view of cognition. We then use this framework to showcase an example from the insect brain, the multi-sensory integration and internal processing that is shared between the mushroom bodies and central complex. We end by identifying future trends in this research area, which promise to advance the field of evolutionary neurobiology.
Topics: Cognition; Animals; Biological Evolution; Brain; Nerve Net; Insecta; Mushroom Bodies
PubMed: 38747685
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0576 -
Genes, Brain, and Behavior Jul 2022Developmental dyslexia is a common neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties in reading and writing. Although underlying biological and genetic...
Developmental dyslexia is a common neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties in reading and writing. Although underlying biological and genetic mechanisms remain unclear, anomalies in phonological processing and auditory processing have been associated with dyslexia. Several candidate risk genes have also been identified, with KIAA0319 as a main candidate. Animal models targeting the rodent homolog (Kiaa0319) have been used to explore putative behavioral and anatomic anomalies, with mixed results. For example after downregulation of Kiaa0319 expression in rats via shRNA, significant adult rapid auditory processing impairments were reported, along with cortical anomalies reflecting atypical neuronal migration. Conversely, Kiaa0319 knockout (KO) mice were reported to have typical adult auditory processing, and no visible cortical anomalies. To address these inconsistencies, we tested Kiaa0319 KO mice on auditory processing tasks similar to those used previously in rat shRNA knockdown studies. Subsequent neuroanatomic analyses on these same mice targeted medial geniculate nucleus (MGN), a receptive communication-related brain structure. Results confirm that Kiaa0319 KO mice exhibit significant auditory processing impairments specific to rapid/brief stimuli, and also show significant volumetric reductions and a shift toward fewer large and smaller neurons in the MGN. The latter finding is consistent with post mortem MGN data from human dyslexic brains. Combined evidence supports a role for KIAA0319 in the development of auditory CNS pathways subserving rapid auditory processing functions critical to the development of speech processing, language, and ultimately reading. Results affirm KIAA0319 variation as a possible risk factor for dyslexia specifically via anomalies in central acoustic processing pathways.
Topics: Animals; Auditory Perception; Dyslexia; Geniculate Bodies; Mice; Mice, Knockout; RNA, Small Interfering; Rats
PubMed: 35419947
DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12808 -
Current Opinion in Neurobiology Dec 2020Visually guided decision-making requires integration of information from distributed brain areas, necessitating a brain-wide approach to examine its neural mechanisms.... (Review)
Review
Visually guided decision-making requires integration of information from distributed brain areas, necessitating a brain-wide approach to examine its neural mechanisms. New tools in Drosophila melanogaster enable circuits spanning the brain to be charted with single cell-type resolution. Here, we highlight recent advances uncovering the computations and circuits that transform and integrate visual information across the brain to make behavioral choices. Visual information flows from the optic lobes to three primary central brain regions: a sensorimotor mapping area and two 'higher' centers for memory or spatial orientation. Rapid decision-making during predator evasion emerges from the spike timing dynamics in parallel sensorimotor cascades. Goal-directed decisions may occur through memory, navigation and valence processing in the central complex and mushroom bodies.
Topics: Animals; Brain; Drosophila; Drosophila melanogaster; Memory; Mushroom Bodies
PubMed: 33217639
DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2020.10.010 -
International Journal of Food Science 2022Parasol mushroom () is a fungus that is often included in the menu of people looking for replacements for meat products and at the same time appreciating mushrooms. Its... (Review)
Review
Parasol mushroom () is a fungus that is often included in the menu of people looking for replacements for meat products and at the same time appreciating mushrooms. Its fruiting bodies are known for their delicate flavor and aroma. The aim of the publication was to analyze the latest information (mainly from 2015 to 2021) on the chemical composition of the fruiting bodies and their antioxidant properties. The data on other health-promoting properties and the possibilities of using these mushrooms in medicine were also compiled and summarized, taking into account their antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, regulatory, antidepressant, and anticancer effects. Moreover, the influence of various forms of processing and conservation of raw mushroom on its health-promoting properties was discussed. The possibilities of controlling the quality of both the raw material and the prepared dishes were also discussed. Such an opportunity is offered by the possibility of modifying the growing conditions, in particular, the appropriate selection of the substrate for mushroom cultivation and the deliberate enrichment of its composition with the selected substances, which will then be incorporated into the fungus organism.
PubMed: 35655802
DOI: 10.1155/2022/5773275 -
Nature Communications Jul 2023Prediction, prevention and treatment of virus infections require understanding of cell-to-cell variability that leads to heterogenous disease outcomes, but the source of...
Prediction, prevention and treatment of virus infections require understanding of cell-to-cell variability that leads to heterogenous disease outcomes, but the source of this heterogeneity has yet to be clarified. To study the multimodal response of single human cells to herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection, we mapped high-dimensional viral and cellular state spaces throughout the infection using multiplexed imaging and quantitative single-cell measurements of viral and cellular mRNAs and proteins. Here we show that the high-dimensional cellular state scape can predict heterogenous infections, and cells move through the cellular state landscape according to infection progression. Spatial information reveals that infection changes the cellular state of both infected cells and of their neighbors. The multiplexed imaging of HSV-1-induced cellular modifications links infection progression to changes in signaling responses, transcriptional activity, and processing bodies. Our data show that multiplexed quantification of responses at the single-cell level, across thousands of cells helps predict infections and identify new targets for antivirals.
Topics: Humans; Herpesvirus 1, Human; Herpes Simplex; Antiviral Agents; RNA, Messenger; Virus Replication
PubMed: 37500668
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40148-6 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Mar 2021Nervous systems' computational abilities are an evolutionary innovation, specializing and speed-optimizing ancient biophysical dynamics. Bioelectric signalling... (Review)
Review
Nervous systems' computational abilities are an evolutionary innovation, specializing and speed-optimizing ancient biophysical dynamics. Bioelectric signalling originated in cells' communication with the outside world and with each other, enabling cooperation towards adaptive construction and repair of multicellular bodies. Here, we review the emerging field of developmental bioelectricity, which links the field of basal cognition to state-of-the-art questions in regenerative medicine, synthetic bioengineering and even artificial intelligence. One of the predictions of this view is that regeneration and regulative development can restore correct large-scale anatomies from diverse starting states because, like the brain, they exploit bioelectric encoding of distributed goal states-in this case, pattern memories. We propose a new interpretation of recent stochastic regenerative phenotypes in planaria, by appealing to computational models of memory representation and processing in the brain. Moreover, we discuss novel findings showing that bioelectric changes induced in planaria can be stored in tissue for over a week, thus revealing that somatic bioelectric circuits can implement a long-term, re-writable memory medium. A consideration of the mechanisms, evolution and functionality of basal cognition makes novel predictions and provides an integrative perspective on the evolution, physiology and biomedicine of information processing . This article is part of the theme issue 'Basal cognition: multicellularity, neurons and the cognitive lens'.
Topics: Animals; Cell Communication; Cognition; Cognitive Science; Electrophysiological Phenomena; Models, Neurological; Planarians; Regeneration
PubMed: 33550952
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0765 -
NeuroImage Oct 2022Research on face perception has revealed highly specialized visual mechanisms such as configural processing, and provided markers of interindividual differences...
Research on face perception has revealed highly specialized visual mechanisms such as configural processing, and provided markers of interindividual differences -including disease risks and alterations- in visuo-perceptual abilities that traffic in social cognition. Is face perception unique in degree or kind of mechanisms, and in its relevance for social cognition? Combining functional MRI and behavioral methods, we address the processing of an uncharted class of socially relevant stimuli: minimal social scenes involving configurations of two bodies spatially close and face-to-face as if interacting (hereafter, facing dyads). We report category-specific activity for facing (vs. non-facing) dyads in visual cortex. That activity shows face-like signatures of configural processing -i.e., stronger response to facing (vs. non-facing) dyads, and greater susceptibility to stimulus inversion for facing (vs. non-facing) dyads-, and is predicted by performance-based measures of configural processing in visual perception of body dyads. Moreover, we observe that the individual performance in body-dyad perception is reliable, stable-over-time and correlated with the individual social sensitivity, coarsely captured by the Autism-Spectrum Quotient. Further analyses clarify the relationship between single-body and body-dyad perception. We propose that facing dyads are processed through highly specialized mechanisms -and brain areas-, analogously to other biologically and socially relevant stimuli such as faces. Like face perception, facing-dyad perception can reveal basic (visual) processes that lay the foundations for understanding others, their relationships and interactions.
Topics: Brain; Facial Recognition; Humans; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Social Perception; Visual Cortex; Visual Perception
PubMed: 35878724
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119506 -
Nature Communications Nov 2021Mutations in the cardiac splicing factor RBM20 lead to malignant dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). To understand the mechanism of RBM20-associated DCM, we engineered...
Mutations in the cardiac splicing factor RBM20 lead to malignant dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). To understand the mechanism of RBM20-associated DCM, we engineered isogenic iPSCs with DCM-associated missense mutations in RBM20 as well as RBM20 knockout (KO) iPSCs. iPSC-derived engineered heart tissues made from these cell lines recapitulate contractile dysfunction of RBM20-associated DCM and reveal greater dysfunction with missense mutations than KO. Analysis of RBM20 RNA binding by eCLIP reveals a gain-of-function preference of mutant RBM20 for 3' UTR sequences that are shared with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and processing-body associated RNA binding proteins (FUS, DDX6). Deep RNA sequencing reveals that the RBM20 R636S mutant has unique gene, splicing, polyadenylation and circular RNA defects that differ from RBM20 KO. Super-resolution microscopy verifies that mutant RBM20 maintains very limited nuclear localization potential; rather, the mutant protein associates with cytoplasmic processing bodies (DDX6) under basal conditions, and with stress granules (G3BP1) following acute stress. Taken together, our results highlight a pathogenic mechanism in cardiac disease through splicing-dependent and -independent pathways.
Topics: Cardiomyopathies; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated; DEAD-box RNA Helicases; DNA Helicases; Gain of Function Mutation; Gene Knockdown Techniques; Humans; Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells; Male; Mutation; Mutation, Missense; Poly-ADP-Ribose Binding Proteins; Proto-Oncogene Proteins; RNA Helicases; RNA Recognition Motif Proteins; RNA Splicing; RNA-Binding Proteins; Ribonucleoproteins
PubMed: 34732726
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26623-y -
Scientific Reports Nov 2022A new class of deformation is presented for a planar loop structure made up of slender elastic bodies and joints. In demonstrating the circumferential shortening of the...
A new class of deformation is presented for a planar loop structure made up of slender elastic bodies and joints. In demonstrating the circumferential shortening of the multi-jointed elastic loop, diverse three-dimensional (3D) deformations emerge through piecewise deflections and discrete rotations. These 3D morphologies correspond to conformations of molecular ring systems. Through image processing, the 3D reconstructions of the deformed structures are characterized by number, geometry, and initial imperfections of the body segments. We elucidate from measurements that the conformational deformation without self-stress results from a cyclical assembly of compressive bending of elastic bodies with high shear rigidity. The mechanical insights gained may apply in controlling the polymorphism exhibited by the cyclical structures across scales.
Topics: Molecular Conformation; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Pressure
PubMed: 36411324
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-24355-7 -
Micromachines Apr 2022Giant vesicles (GVs) are closed bilayer membranes that primarily comprise amphiphiles with diameters of more than 1 μm. Compared with regular vesicles (several tens of... (Review)
Review
Giant vesicles (GVs) are closed bilayer membranes that primarily comprise amphiphiles with diameters of more than 1 μm. Compared with regular vesicles (several tens of nanometers in size), GVs are of greater scientific interest as model cell membranes and protocells because of their structure and size, which are similar to those of biological systems. Biopolymers and nano-/microparticles can be encapsulated in GVs at high concentrations, and their application as artificial cell bodies has piqued interest. It is essential to develop methods for investigating and manipulating the properties of GVs toward engineering applications. In this review, we discuss current improvements in microscopy, micromanipulation, and microfabrication technologies for progress in GV identification and engineering tools. Combined with the advancement of GV preparation technologies, these technological advancements can aid the development of artificial cell systems such as alternative tissues and GV-based chemical signal processing systems.
PubMed: 35630111
DOI: 10.3390/mi13050644