The claustrum, a subcortical nucleus forming extensive connections with the neocortex, has been implicated in sensory selection. Sensory-evoked claustrum activity is thought to modulate the ...neocortex’s context-dependent response to sensory input. Recording from claustrum neurons while mice performed a tactile-visual sensory-selection task, we found that neurons in the anterior claustrum, including putative optotagged claustrocortical neurons projecting to the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), were rarely modulated by sensory input. Rather, they exhibited different types of direction-tuned motor responses. Furthermore, we found that claustrum neurons encoded upcoming movement during intertrial intervals and that pairs of claustrum neurons exhibiting synchronous firing were enriched for pairs preferring contralateral lick directions, suggesting that the activity of specific ensembles of similarly tuned claustrum neurons may modulate cortical activity. Chemogenetic inhibition of claustrocortical neurons decreased lick responses to inappropriate sensory stimuli. Altogether, our data indicate that the claustrum is integrated into higher-order premotor circuits recently implicated in decision-making.
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•Anterior claustrum neurons exhibit motor responses•Claustrum neurons, including S1-projecting neurons, encode lick direction•Neuron pairs with synchronous firing during intertrial intervals are similarly tuned•Chemogenetic inhibition of claustrocortical neurons decreases false alarms
Chevée, Finkel et al. show that the activity of neurons in the anterior claustrum recorded during a cross-modal sensory selection task reflects movement rather than sensory input. Premotor activity in individual claustrum neurons was biased for ipsilateral or contralateral movements and encoded upcoming lick direction during intertrial intervals.
Flexible responses to sensory stimuli based on changing rules are critical for adapting to a dynamic environment. However, it remains unclear how the brain encodes and uses rule information to guide ...behavior. Here, we made single-unit recordings while head-fixed mice performed a cross-modal sensory selection task where they switched between two rules: licking in response to tactile stimuli while rejecting visual stimuli, or vice versa. Along a cortical sensorimotor processing stream including the primary (S1) and secondary (S2) somatosensory areas, and the medial (MM) and anterolateral (ALM) motor areas, single-neuron activity distinguished between the two rules both prior to and in response to the tactile stimulus. We hypothesized that neural populations in these areas would show rule-dependent preparatory states, which would shape the subsequent sensory processing and behavior. This hypothesis was supported for the motor cortical areas (MM and ALM) by findings that (1) the current task rule could be decoded from pre-stimulus population activity; (2) neural subspaces containing the population activity differed between the two rules; and (3) optogenetic disruption of pre-stimulus states impaired task performance. Our findings indicate that flexible action selection in response to sensory input can occur via configuration of preparatory states in the motor cortex.
Well-structured transition systems (WSTSs) are a general class of infinite-state systems for which decidability results rely on the existence of a well-quasi-ordering between states that is ...compatible with the transitions. In this article, we provide an extensive treatment of the WSTS idea and show several new results. Our improved definitions allow many examples of classical systems to be seen as instances of WSTSs.
The brain receives constant tactile input, but only a subset guides ongoing behavior. Actions associated with tactile stimuli thus endow them with behavioral relevance. It remains unclear how the ...relevance of tactile stimuli affects processing in the somatosensory (S1) cortex. We developed a cross-modal selection task in which head-fixed mice switched between responding to tactile stimuli in the presence of visual distractors or to visual stimuli in the presence of tactile distractors using licking movements to the left or right side in different blocks of trials. S1 spiking encoded tactile stimuli, licking actions, and direction of licking in response to tactile but not visual stimuli. Bidirectional optogenetic manipulations showed that sensory-motor activity in S1 guided behavior when touch but not vision was relevant. Our results show that S1 activity and its impact on behavior depend on the actions associated with a tactile stimulus.
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•A tactile-visual cross-modal selection task for head-fixed mice•Sensory and motor activity interact in S1 to promote tactile detection•S1 activity is gated based on the relevance of touch vs. vision
Finkel et al. use a cross-modal detection task for mice with single-unit recordings and optogenetic perturbations to investigate the relationship between the early cortical processing of a tactile stimulus and its behavioral relevance. S1 activity and its impact on behavior depend on the relevance of tactile stimuli to specific actions.
In cross-sectional studies, food insecurity is associated with adverse health and dietary outcomes. Whether self-reported health and dietary outcomes change in response to improvements in food ...security has not been examined. We sought to examine how increases in food security are related to changes in health and dietary factors. In this longitudinal, observational study, we included adult participants in a clinical-community emergency food assistance program in New York City from July 2020 to November 2021. Program staff measured food security with a validated six-item measure at program enrollment and six-month re-enrollment. Participants self-reported health and dietary factors (vegetable, fruit, juice, and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption frequency). We used multivariable regression to examine associations between change in food security with change in health and dietary factors over six months. Among 310 participants, the mean food security score improved by 1.7 ± 2.3 points over six months. In unadjusted models, each point improvement in food security was associated with increased vegetable (
= 0.10 times; 95% CI: 0.05-0.15); fruit (
= 0.08 times; 95% CI: 0.03-0.14); and juice (
= 0.10 times; 95% CI: 0.05-0.15) consumption. In adjusted models, results remained significant for vegetable and fruit consumption, but not juice. Change in food security was not associated with change in health or SSB outcomes. In this cohort during COVID-19, improved food security was associated with improved vegetable and fruit consumption. Randomized trials that examine the effectiveness of clinical-community partnerships focused on improving food security and nutrition are warranted.
Double-layer thin-film compositions with a TiN coating based on a ferromagnetic Ni–5 at % W alloy and a paramagnetic Ni–9.5 at % W alloy have been prepared. Texturing in both components of the ...Ni–W/TiN system has been studied using X-ray diffraction analysis. It has been found that the coating layer causes crystal planes in the Ni–9.5 at % W strip to reorient and thereby enhances the cube texture in the substrate. It has been shown that under certain growth conditions, a thin TiN coating above the Ni–9.5 at % W/TiN substrate grows quasi-single-crystalline with a cube texture.
The temperature dependences of the resistivity of granular high-temperature superconductor YBa
2
Cu
3
O
7–δ
ρ(
T
) are measured at various transverse external magnetic fields 0 ≤
H
ext
≤ 100 Oe in ...the temperature range from the resistivity onset temperature
T
ρ = 0
to the superconducting transition critical temperature
T
c
at the transport current density from 50 to 2000 mA/cm
2
. The effect of the external magnetic field and transport current density on the kinetics of phase transitions in both subsystems of granular two-level HTSC (
T
=
T
c
2J
,
T
c
1g
,
T
c
) is determined. The feasibility of the topological phase transition, i.e., the Berezinsky–Kosterlitz–Thouless transition, in the Josephson medium at
T
c
2J
<
T
BKT
<
T
c
1g
“in transport current” is established, and its feasibility conditions are studied.
Racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in childhood obesity in the United States (U.S.) originate in early life. Maternal sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption is an early life risk ...factor for later offspring obesity. The goal of this study was to test the effects of policy-relevant messages delivered by text messages mobile devices (mHealth) on maternal SSB consumption. In this three-arm 1-month randomized controlled trial (RCT), pregnant women or mothers of infants in predominantly Hispanic/Latino New York City neighborhoods were randomized to receive one of three text message sets: graphic beverage health warning labels, beverage sugar content information, or attention control. The main outcome was change in maternal self-reporting of average daily SSB consumption from baseline to one month. Among 262 participants, maternal SSB consumption declined over the 1-month period in all three arms. No intervention effect was detected in primary analyses. In sensitivity analyses accounting for outliers, graphic health warning labels reduced maternal SSB consumption by 28 kcal daily (95% CI: -56, -1). In this mHealth RCT among pregnant women and mothers of infants, graphic health warning labels and beverage sugar content information did not reduce maternal SSB consumption.
Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is a severe complication of preterm birth, which leads to hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, and mental retardation. There are no available therapies to cure IVH, and ...standard treatment is supportive care. Unrestricted somatic stem cells (USSCs) from human cord blood have reparative effects in animal models of brain and spinal cord injuries. USSCs were administered to premature rabbit pups with IVH and their effects on white matter integrity and neurobehavioral performance were evaluated. USSCs were injected either via intracerebroventricular (ICV) or via intravenous (IV) routes in 3 days premature (term 32d) rabbit pups, 24 hours after glycerol‐induced IVH. The pups were sacrificed at postnatal days 3, 7, and 14 and effects were compared to glycerol‐treated but unaffected or nontreated control. Using in vivo live bioluminescence imaging and immunohistochemical analysis, injected cells were found in the injured parenchyma on day 3 when using the IV route compared to ICV where cells were found adjacent to the ventricle wall forming aggregates; we did not observe any adverse events from either route of administration. The injected USSCs were functionally associated with attenuated microglial infiltration, less apoptotic cell death, fewer reactive astrocytes, and diminished levels of key inflammatory cytokines (TNFα and IL1β). In addition, we observed better preservation of myelin fibers, increased myelin gene expression, and altered reactive astrocyte distribution in treated animals, and this was associated with improved locomotor function. Overall, our findings support the possibility that USSCs exert anti‐inflammatory effects in the injured brain mitigating many detrimental consequences associated with IVH. Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2019;8:1157–1169
Intraventricular hemorrhage causes white matter injury. The present study demonstrated the therapeutic potential of unrestricted somatic stem cells (USSCs) infusion in a rabbit model of intraventricular hemorrhage. The injected USSCs attenuated microglial infiltration, lowered cell death, and reduced levels of cytokines‐IL1β and TNFα. We observed improved myelin fiber recovery and myelin basic protein increased gene expression in treated pups. Histological changes were associated with improved locomotor function.
Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is a severe complication of preterm birth associated with cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, and commonly, accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). ...Histologically, IVH leads to subependymal gliosis, fibrosis, and disruption of the ependymal wall. Importantly, expression of aquaporin channels 1 and 4 (AQP1 and AQP4) regulating respectively, secretion and absorption of cerebrospinal fluids is altered with IVH and are associated with development of post hemorrhagic hydrocephalus. Human cord blood derived unrestricted somatic stem cells (USSCs), which we previously demonstrated to reduce the magnitude of hydrocephalus, as having anti-inflammatory, and beneficial behavioral effects, were injected into the cerebral ventricles of rabbit pups 18 h after glycerol-induced IVH. USSC treated IVH pups showed a reduction in ventricular size when compared to control pups at 7 and 14 days (both,
< 0.05). Histologically, USSC treatment reduced cellular infiltration and ependymal wall disruption. In the region of the choroid plexus, immuno-reactivity for AQP1 and ependymal wall AQP4 expression were suppressed after IVH but were restored following USSC administration. Effects were confirmed by analysis of mRNA from dissected choroid plexus and ependymal tissue. Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) isoforms, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and matrix metalloprotease-9 (MMP-9) mRNA, as well as protein levels, were significantly increased following IVH and restored towards normal with USSC treatment (
< 0.05). The anti-inflammatory cytokine Interleukin-10 (IL-10) mRNA was reduced in IVH, but significantly recovered after USSC injection (
< 0.05). In conclusion, USSCs exerted anti-inflammatory effects by suppressing both TGF-β specific isoforms, CTGF and MMP-9, recovered IL-10, restored aquaporins expression towards baseline, and reduced hydrocephalus. These results support the possibility of the use of USSCs to reduce IVH consequences in prematurity.
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