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In the mouse whisker region of primary somatosensory cortex (S1), neurons projecting to secondary somatosensory cortex (S2) and primary motor cortex (M1), respectively, are differentially activated during distinct whisker-based behavioural tasks; sensory stimulus features alone do not elicit these differences, suggesting that selective transmission of S1 information to S2 and M1 is driven by behaviour.

The authors explore how sensory maps are reshaped by experience in vivo, using chronic two-photon calcium imaging to follow whisker-evoked activity of individual layer 2/3 neurons in adult mouse barrel cortex over weeks. By first measuring activity with whiskers intact and then with continued trimming of all but one whisker, they describe how the redistribution of population activity underlies large-scale cortical remapping.

It’s poorly understood how renal manifestations develop in HEV infection in patients. Here, the authors observe glomerular accumulation of the viral protein ORF2 in complex with host IgG in immunocompromised patients with chronic or acute HEV infection who developed glomerulonephritis.

Han and Helmchen demonstrate that the dynamic interactions between a higher association area and a primary sensory area in the neocortex can shape sensory representation and govern behavioral choices.

Learning reorganizes brain activity across areas. Using two-photon imaging, the authors show that learning a sensory task shapes neuronal responses and aligns population activity subspaces, revealing coordinated adaptations within and across brain regions.

How astrocytes can integrate information is incompletely understood. Here the authors show that locus coeruleus-controlled calcium signals in hippocampal astrocytes propagating from their processes to their soma are involved in the information integration upon salient events.

During adaptation, neocortical responses change as a result of repeated sensory stimulation, but it's unclear how this affects perception. Here the authors use optogenetics to mimic sensory evoked cortical responses with or without adaptation. They find adaptation impairs frequency discrimination but enhances change detection during whisker stimulation.

Genomic integration of DNA templates is made more precise through microhomology-focused design.

Groos et al. show that lateral habenula activity reflects individual risk preference before action selection. This activity is modulated by behavior-relevant synaptic input from the medial hypothalamus capable of glutamate and GABA co-release.

A portable fiber-optic epifluorescence microscope allows real-time imaging of brain function with cellular spatial resolution in freely moving mice.

The mesoSPIM is an open hardware axially scanned light-sheet microscope for the rapid imaging of large cleared samples with isotropic resolution.

The demand to image large biological samples at high resolution requires improvement in current light-sheet microscopy tools. Here, the authors present an improved, benchtop mesoSPIM with a significantly increased field-of-view, improved resolution and improved throughput.

To reveal cellular mechanisms of cognitive decline after stroke the authors established an experimental paradigm in mice monitoring individual nerve cells involved in spatial memory in health and disease allowing to identify functional biomarkers.

Lesions of dorsomedial, but not dorsolateral, striatum are associated with working memory impairments. Here, the authors investigate the role of a projection from medial prefrontal cortex to dorsomedial striatum in the maintenance of information during a working memory task in mice.

Rupprecht et al. compiled a large database of simultaneous electrophysiological and calcium recordings from the same neurons. An algorithm (termed CASCADE) trained with this ground truth enables reliable spike inference without the need to tune parameters.

Dynamic interaction of neurons in lateral orbitofrontal cortex with the sensory cortex implements value-prediction computations that are history dependent and error based, providing plasticity essential for flexible decision-making.

Learning is a dynamic process involving many cortical areas. Here, using cortex-wide imaging, the authors show that in mice learning to discriminate between two textures a distinct task related signal flow is enhanced involving a specific association area whereas other association areas are suppressed.

High-density arrays of optical fibers enable monitoring and manipulation of neural activity at large scale across many brain regions. The multi-fiber arrays can be used in head-fixed tasks, in freely behaving animals and during social interactions.

Network activity in primary motor cortex (M1) controls dexterous limb movements. Here, the authors show that the M1 population code varies according to contextual motor demands that are conveyed via the secondary motor cortex (M2).

The role of apoptosis in the maturation of brain circuitry is not well understood. Here the authors show that the apoptosis of cortical layer 1 Cajal-Retzius cells regulates the maturation of the inhibitory circuit and somatosensory processing

Imaging of large, cleared samples in diverse media is achieved using a mirror objective.

Techniques to perform long-term recordings of brain activity from different areas are key to investigating many processes. Here, the authors introduce a tentacular implant with many independent fibers to track neuronal ensembles spanning multiple brain areas for months.

Simultaneous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and fiber-optic–based calcium recordings in rats allow investigation of the relationship between blood oxygen level–dependent (BOLD) fMRI signals and the underlying neural activity. The study uncovers prolonged BOLD signal components involving glial activation.

The authors used chronic two-photon calcium imaging to record activity in primary whisker somatosensory cortex neurons projecting to secondary somatosensory or primary motor cortex while mice learned a texture discrimination task. Learning-related changes in primary somatosensory cortex enhanced sensory representations in a pathway-specific manner and provided downstream areas with task-relevant information for behavior.

Limitations in scanning speed have made it difficult for two-photon imaging to provide accurate temporal information on neuronal signaling. Refinements to random-access scanning using acousto-optic deflectors and an automated algorithm for reconstructing complex spike trains allowed in vivo high-speed optical recording of spiking activity in neuronal populations in the mouse neocortex.

Serotonin is released throughout the brain from diverse projections of neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus. Here, the authors use optogenetics and fMRI mediated mapping of the mouse brain-wide serotonin network in response to acute stress and treatment with SSRI.

Back-propagating action potentials (bAP) and NMDA dendritic spikes have both been linked to long-term plasticity (LTP) induction, though it is unclear which factors are essential. Here, using electrophysiology and Ca²⁺imaging, the authors find NMDA spikes are a key initiator of LTP, and that bAP contribution occurs via NMDA spike triggering.

Large-field multifocal illumination fluorescence microscopy and panoramic volumetric multispectral optoacoustic tomography can be combined to longitudinally assess amyloid-β deposits in transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease.

Neurons are generated throughout life in the mammalian hippocampus. Bottes et al. used intravital imaging and comparative single-cell transcriptomics to identify long-term self-renewing neural stem cells in the adult mouse hippocampus.

Being able to precisely analyse behaviour is essential for the study of motor behaviour in health and disease, but is often time- and labour-intensive. Brattoli et al. develop an automatic approach based on deep learning for analysing motor behaviour and evaluate it on different species and diverse motor functions.

Sensory neuronal circuits adapt during maturation when animals start to actively interact with the external world. The authors reveal structural and functional rearrangements of the input cortical interneurons receive around the time the animals start active sensation.

The influence of locomotion on somatosensory processing in barrel cortex is not well understood. Here the authors report distinct layer-specific responses, with L5 primarily reporting changes in touch condition while L2/3 neurons integrating touch and locomotion continuously.

The lateral entorhinal cortex computes and transfers olfactory information from the olfactory bulb to the hippocampus and supports associative multimodal memories. Leitner et al. characterize the activity of odor-responsive cell types in this brain area and identify upstream and downstream brain areas to which olfactory information is conveyed.

Using chronic in vivo imaging of the mouse hippocampus over months, this study reveals aging-associated alterations of neural stem cells and their neuronal progeny that lead to reduced clonal output of individual neural stem cells with advancing age.

This protocol describes the working principle and implementation of axially swept light-sheet microscopy, which can image subcellular features at organ scales in 3D. It discusses how to optimize its design and provides a detailed guide for its construction and alignment.

A full-body nanobody-based immunolabeling and clearing method that renders mice transparent in 3 weeks, enhancing the signal of fluorescent proteins and allowing their reliable detection and quantification, at cellular resolution, within an entire body.

Coupling fluorescence imaging with fMRI allows study of the molecular processes underlying physiological responses. This protocol shows how to use a fiber-optic implant to measure calcium signaling and blood oxygenation (BOLD fMRI) simultaneously.