The European Journal Of Neuroscience[JOURNAL]
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200 papers
A Robust Approach to Quantify Nocifensive Blink Reflex Responsiveness.
Bufacchi RJ, Somervail R, Shao K … +3 more , Kilintari M, Novembre G, Iannetti GD
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41703956 · Full text
The modulation of the hand-blink reflex (HBR), a prototypical nocifensive response, is increasingly used to investigate defensive behaviour, related to the notion of peripersonal space. However, HBR responsiveness is hig...
The modulation of the hand-blink reflex (HBR), a prototypical nocifensive response, is increasingly used to investigate defensive behaviour, related to the notion of peripersonal space. However, HBR responsiveness is highly variable across participants. This variability has led researchers to use several seemingly arbitrary criteria to determine whether a subject should be included as a participant in a study. But are these criteria justified? Can better and more rigorous criteria be formulated? Does the traditional division into responders and non-responders reflect a practical decision to exclude participants with very low signal-to-noise ratio, or does it reflect two distinct biological categories? Here, we addressed these issues by systematically varying a set of parameters, which together form an objective and quantifiable criterion of HBR responsiveness. We describe classification criteria for HBR responsiveness that were both reliable and consistent with previous studies. We also found no evidence for a clear-cut biological distinction between HBR responders and non-responders. We recommend to (1) no longer preliminarily screen subjects, simply collecting data on all subjects, and (2), after collecting the data, only include subjects identified as blinkers using the following criteria: The mean of the rectified HBR must exceed 2.5 SD of the baseline EMG in 40% or more of trials in the hand-near condition. We formulate rigorous inclusion criteria for HBR studies, which can be adapted for use on other neurophysiological responses in health and disease.
Concurrent Assessment of Sequential Auditory Event-Related Potentials Using an Optimized Paired-Stimulus Local-Global Paradigm.
Guo C, Wang X, Ma Z … +2 more , Yang X, Cong F
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41702840 · Full text
Comprehensive assessment of auditory processing is crucial for understanding perceptual and attentional functions, as well as detecting related deficits in clinical populations. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) t...
Comprehensive assessment of auditory processing is crucial for understanding perceptual and attentional functions, as well as detecting related deficits in clinical populations. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) track key stages through time-locked components that emerge from early sensory processing (P1-N1-P2 complex) and automatic deviance detection (mismatch negativity, MMN) to involuntary attention orienting (P3a) and voluntary attention engagement (P3b). However, current approaches predominantly focus on isolated ERP components demonstrated through group-level statistical difference, whereas paradigms capable of capturing sequential components with high individual sensitivity remain scarce. Here, we optimized the local-global paradigm with paired-stimulus design, strategically capturing pre-attentive to voluntary processing by contrasting responses to within-pair violations (local effect) versus across-pair violations (global effect). We evaluated this paradigm in 30 healthy participants under active (target counting) and passive (visual distraction) conditions. Results demonstrated that both conditions reliably elicited complete pre-attentive components (P1-N1-P2 and MMN) as confirmed by cluster-based permutation tests, achieving 30/30 individual-level sensitivity validated through intrasubject classification analysis. Furthermore, comparison between active and passive conditions revealed significant differences specifically in the 272-392 ms and 272-400 ms window (p < 0.05) under two levels of global deviants. This contrast successfully dissociated voluntary from involuntary attention with 86.67% and 93.33% individual sensitivity, respectively. Moreover, the active-passive discrimination depended primarily on the number of epochs sampled (p < 0.001) rather than the number of sensors used (p > 0.05). These findings validate our paired-stimulus local-global paradigm as a reliable approach for assessing sequential auditory ERPs, offering significant advantages with potential applications in clinical evaluation of perceptual and attentional impairments.
Inhibition of Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase Alters Cortical CREB Signaling and Social Behavior in a Rat Model of Schizophrenia.
Kumar A, Seillier L, Kuchař M … +1 more , Seillier A
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41668604 · Publisher ↗
Social withdrawal is a core negative symptom of schizophrenia and remains poorly understood at the molecular level. Dysregulation of the endocannabinoid system has been implicated in social behavior, yet its downstream s...
Social withdrawal is a core negative symptom of schizophrenia and remains poorly understood at the molecular level. Dysregulation of the endocannabinoid system has been implicated in social behavior, yet its downstream signaling mechanisms are not fully characterized. In this context, this study examined the effects of the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitor, URB597, on CREB expression and its phosphorylation at serine 133 (pCREB) in saline-treated (1 mL/kg, i.p.) or phencyclidine-treated (PCP; 5 mg/kg, i.p., twice a day for 7 days) rats engaged in social interaction. CREB and pCREB expression was measured in six cortical regions selected for their established roles in social behavior: the prelimbic cortex (A32V), the cingulate cortex (A32D), the ventral orbital cortex (VO), the lateral orbital cortex (LO), the agranular insular cortex (AI), and the infralimbic cortex (A25). PCP-treated rats showed reduced social interaction, and URB597 reversed this deficit, whereas the same treatment decreased social interaction in saline controls. Across the six prefrontal and insular regions, CREB expression was largely unchanged, apart from a URB597-related reduction in the LO (main effect, p < 0.05) and an increase in the AI of PCP-treated rats. URB597 also reduced pCREB in VO (main effect, p < 0.05). In contrast, the AI showed clear group-specific effects: Both PCP-treated rats receiving vehicle and saline-treated rats receiving URB597 exhibited reduced pCREB relative to saline controls. Although URB597 did not significantly reverse the pCREB reduction in PCP-treated rats, pCREB levels in the AI positively correlated with time spent in social interaction (r = 0.43, p < 0.05). These findings identify the AI as a key neural substrate underlying social withdrawal in this model and suggest that targeting the endocannabinoid system within this region may represent a promising therapeutic strategy for alleviating the negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
Theta Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation Over the Dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex Does Not Enhance Long-Term Memory.
Chitic D, Zdravkov KS, Dounavi V … +2 more , Nieuwenstein MR, Wischnewski M
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 · PMID 41668515 · Full text
Long-term memory (LTM) has been associated with neural oscillation in the theta (3-8 Hz) range. Although previous studies have suggested that the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) is a core region for LTM retrieval,...
Long-term memory (LTM) has been associated with neural oscillation in the theta (3-8 Hz) range. Although previous studies have suggested that the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) is a core region for LTM retrieval, causal evidence is sparse and mixed. Furthermore, the moderating effects of stimulus memorability have not yet been explored. In the present study, we used transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) to modulate theta oscillation in the dmPFC during the retrieval of visual images with varying levels of memorability. Specifically, we included n = 33 healthy volunteers who were exposed to 300 images of faces, scenes and items, which they had to memorize. Recognition accuracy was assessed 1 h later. During the retrieval phase, participants received either sham or verum (4 Hz, 2.5 mA) tACS and were asked whether they had seen the pictures before (150 new and 150 old). Contrary to our preregistered hypotheses, we found no significant effect of 4-Hz tACS applied during retrieval on LTM recognition. Furthermore, although the memorability effect was observed, it did not interact with tACS, indicating that stimulation neither improved nor worsened performance on low- and high-memorable images. Altogether, the present study does not support an active role of 4-Hz oscillations in the dmPFC for the recognition of images with varying levels of memorability, under the specific task and stimulation parameters used here. However, this null effect may be specific to the task and particular parameters used in this study.
Partner Choice and Context-Dependent Sex Differences in Rat Rough-and-Tumble Play.
Ham JR, Pellis SM, McDonald RJ
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41668504 · Full text
Rough-and-tumble play (RTP) is the form of play most often observed in juvenile mammals. In rats, RTP typically consists of competing for access to the partner's nape, with both sex and social contexts influencing its fr...
Rough-and-tumble play (RTP) is the form of play most often observed in juvenile mammals. In rats, RTP typically consists of competing for access to the partner's nape, with both sex and social contexts influencing its frequency and structure. Although most studies employ dyadic tests, this design limits partner choice. Here, we investigated sex differences in partner preference and play frequency in Wistar rats using a group play paradigm. Juvenile rats were tested in mixed-sex and same-sex triads, allowing individuals to select partners. We measured playful nape attacks, defensive responses, and the distribution of play across partners. Results revealed that both sexes formed partner preferences, but only males exhibited sex-based preferences, directing significantly more playful attacks toward females than males. Female rats showed no group-level sex preference, though most individuals displayed consistent preferences for one partner, often, but not exclusively, for the male partner. Importantly, females initiated fewer nape attacks than males in mixed-sex groups, but this sex difference disappeared in all-female groups, where females initiated playful attacks at levels comparable to males. Thus, sex differences in RTP frequency were context dependent, emerging only when females were tested alongside males. These findings demonstrate two distinct forms of sex differences in the play of rats: partner choice and play frequency. Whereas males preferentially engage with females, females appear more flexible, forming idiosyncratic preferences independent of the partner's sex. Moreover, female play initiation is particularly sensitive to social context, highlighting the importance of group-based testing for understanding naturalistic social decision-making.
Beyond the Leaderboard: Evaluating the Robustness of Deep Learning Models for Detecting Freezing of Gait.
Salomon A, Gazit E, Shimoni N … +4 more , Nisimov L, Herman T, Sandler V, Hausdorff JM
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41657009 · Full text
Freezing of gait is a common, debilitating symptom that affects many patients with Parkinson's disease. The lack of a standard, objective method to quantify freezing obstructs research and treatment. Wearable sensors com...
Freezing of gait is a common, debilitating symptom that affects many patients with Parkinson's disease. The lack of a standard, objective method to quantify freezing obstructs research and treatment. Wearable sensors combined with automatic detection algorithms have demonstrated increasingly promising results; nonetheless, video annotation remains the gold standard. After organizing a global machine learning contest to expedite the development of acceleration-based algorithms designed to automatically detect freezing, we tested the transferability of the winning models to a new dataset. Experts reviewed and annotated a test protocol conducted and videotaped in the homes of 12 patients. The models were applied to acceleration data from a lower back sensor worn by the patients. F1-scores, accuracy, recall, specificity, and precision were computed. Intraclass correlations quantified the agreement between model-estimated and annotation-based gold standard outcomes, including the percent time frozen, the number of episodes, and the total freezing duration. While there was a relatively large drop in performance for some of the models, the performance of the third place model showed good transferability to new data. Indeed, the agreement between the third place model and gold standard annotations was similar to or better than that seen when comparing two raters. These results further support the idea that if the goal is to detect freezing duration or percent time frozen, the combination of a single, lower back sensor and the third place model can be used to automatically detect freezing. Still, if the goal is to count episodes or detect freezing subtypes, additional sensors or other modelling approaches are needed.
Event-Related Brain Potentials and Frequency-Following Response to Syllables in Newborns and Adults.
Danielou G, Hervé E, Dubarry AS … +2 more , Desnous B, François C
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41656986 · Full text
Auditory event-related brain potentials such as the mismatch negativity (MMN) and the frequency-following response (FFR) allow exploring speech sound encoding along the auditory pathway. Here, we collected event-related...
Auditory event-related brain potentials such as the mismatch negativity (MMN) and the frequency-following response (FFR) allow exploring speech sound encoding along the auditory pathway. Here, we collected event-related brain potential (ERP) and FFR neural responses to syllables in healthy full-term newborns (N = 17, mean age = 3 days) and adults (N = 21, mean age = 22.7). Participants were passively exposed to alternating blocks of syllables presented at either fast or slow stimulation rates while we recorded electroencephalography (EEG). Specifically, blocks containing the synthetic /oa/ syllable alternated with "oddball" blocks containing three natural syllables differing in place of articulation (one standard /da/ and two deviants /ba/ and /ga/). At the FFR level, we found that 3-day-old newborns (i) exhibit an already functional encoding of vowel pitch, (ii) show an immature encoding of vowel formant structure, replicating previous observations. At the ERP level, the two deviants elicited clear MMN in the two groups, although with different topographies, suggesting an immature sensitivity to place of articulation in newborns. These results confirm the role of experience-dependent developmental factors that may differentially shape FFR and ERPs of speech sound features. Furthermore, this study highlights the feasibility of assessing the hierarchy of neural speech sound encoding in a short experimental session.
Dynamic Alterations in the Blood Transcriptome Characterize Drug Use Behavior and Co-Morbidities in Cocaine Use Disorder: A Preliminary Study.
Nwaneshiudu C, Girdhar K, Kleopoulos SP … +7 more , Shao Z, Fullard JF, Butelman ER, Parvaz MA, Goldstein RZ, Alia-Klein N, Roussos P
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 · PMID 41651677 · Full text
Individuals with cocaine use disorder (CUD) who attempt abstinence experience craving and relapse that can benefit from multimodal treatment monitoring. Longitudinal studies linking behavioral manifestations in CUD to th...
Individuals with cocaine use disorder (CUD) who attempt abstinence experience craving and relapse that can benefit from multimodal treatment monitoring. Longitudinal studies linking behavioral manifestations in CUD to the blood transcriptome are not only limited but also computationally complex. Therefore, we developed an analytical pipeline to investigate the connection between drug use behaviors during abstinence and change in the blood transcriptome. We conducted a longitudinal study with CUD (n = 12 subjects) and collected behavioral metrics and blood RNA-seq at baseline, 3, 6, and 9 months. Our analytical pipeline of the high-dimensional data encompasses hierarchical k-means clustering to classify subjects to responder groups based on behavioral scores and abstinence duration, in silico cell deconvolution, differential analysis with correlated multivariate testing over time, gene set enrichment analysis, and gene co-expression with time splines and RNA-seq data. The pipeline captured dynamic changes in behavioral scores and abstinence duration in responder groups. Genes showing differential transcript-level expression were enriched in substance use and cardiovascular disease-associated genetic risk loci in responder groups. Lastly, time-dependent gene co-expression revealed dynamic changes related to immune processes, cell cycle, RNA-protein synthesis, and second messenger signaling for days of abstinence. This is a preliminary investigation, providing an innovative and scalable pipeline for blood-based longitudinal RNA-seq studies in CUD, potentially applicable to other substance use disorders. It outlines a data-driven approach for analyzing composite longitudinal drug use behavioral phenotypes with blood-based transcriptomics. We also demonstrate changes in drug use behaviors and the blood transcriptome during drug abstinence.
Speech Motor Deficits in Developmental Stuttering and Parkinson's Disease: From Cellular and Circuit to Network-Level Disruptions.
Turk AZ, Millwater M, Sheikh-Bahaei S … +3 more , Mollaei F, Riessland M, SheikhBahaei S
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41638906 · Publisher ↗
Speech dysfluency occurs across multiple motor disorders to varying degrees, yet the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Like locomotion, speech production is relies on basal ganglia circuits, and disru...
Speech dysfluency occurs across multiple motor disorders to varying degrees, yet the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Like locomotion, speech production is relies on basal ganglia circuits, and disruptions in these pathways can lead to varied symptomatic presentations. In this perspective, we discuss evidence from cellular, circuit and network-level studies to highlight shared and disorder-specific mechanisms of speech dysfluency in Parkinson's disease and developmental stuttering. Basal ganglia function and dopaminergic modulation are central to both disorders, while cortical and brainstem microcircuits remain crucial; emerging evidence also implicates astrocytes and inflammatory processes in these conditions. By integrating these multiscale insights, we aim to provide a conceptual framework that explains the mechanistic basis of speech dysfluency in Parkinson's disease and developmental stuttering and identifies avenues for future research and possible therapeutic interventions.
Glutamate Delta 1 Receptor in Synapses, Circuits, and Disease.
Choi D, Chettiar PB, Smith Y … +1 more , Dravid SM
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41636022 · Full text
The glutamate delta 1 receptor (GluD1) remained largely unexplored since its cloning three decades ago because it lacked typical ligand-gated ion channel activity. In the last decade, much progress has been made in ident...
The glutamate delta 1 receptor (GluD1) remained largely unexplored since its cloning three decades ago because it lacked typical ligand-gated ion channel activity. In the last decade, much progress has been made in identifying its potential function. This research has been greatly enhanced by the development of specific tools to determine receptor expression and distribution and genetic mouse models to explore region specific roles in regulating circuits and behavior. Major strides have also been taken in understanding the structure-function of the receptor. These studies demonstrate that GluD1 has many distinctive characteristics including synaptogenic activity at both excitatory and inhibitory synapses, the ability of the ligand-binding domain to bind not only D-serine but also GABA, its unique structural arrangement among the ionotropic glutamate receptor family in relation to domain swapping and the ability to induce tonic currents in the native system. Studies have also identified its role in regulating the postsynaptic content of AMPA and NMDA receptors and synaptic plasticity. Finally, human genetic studies revealed the relationship of GluD1 with neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizoaffective disorders and intellectual disability, which is consistent with the phenotypes observed in mice upon GluD1 ablation. The role of GluD1 is also becoming evident in neurological disorders, particularly chronic pain. Thus, GluD1 has quickly emerged as a receptor with multifaceted roles in physiology and pathology.
The Difficulty in Numerical Computation Impacts Motor Decisions in a Stop-Signal Task.
Marc IB, Giuffrida V, Segreti M … +5 more , Paul A, Fagioli S, Pani P, Ferraina S, Brunamonti E
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41635213 · Full text
The proper interpretation of environmental information is necessary for effective decision-making. The resulting cognitive burden may affect the entire process if interpretation is not instantaneous. In this study, we in...
The proper interpretation of environmental information is necessary for effective decision-making. The resulting cognitive burden may affect the entire process if interpretation is not instantaneous. In this study, we investigated how numerical distance (ND), a measure of cognitive demand in numerical comparisons, influences movement initiation and inhibition. To this end, 32 participants completed a novel numerical comparison stop-signal task (NC-SST), in which the cognitive demand of each trial was manipulated by varying the ND between pairs of numbers presented in both Go and Stop signals. Participants were required to initiate or stop a movement if the number was higher or smaller than the one indicated as reference. Results showed that larger NDs (i.e., easier comparisons) facilitated faster and more accurate responses during movement initiation and enhanced stopping performance. Using a generalized drift-diffusion model, we found that drift rates increased with Go ND and were modulated by the spatial location of numerical stimuli, consistent with a left-to-right space number association. A generalized linear mixed-effects model further revealed that Go process parameters, particularly the drift rate, strongly predicted successful stopping and interacted with Stop ND and stop-signal delay (SSD). These findings demonstrate that greater cognitive difficulty impairs both movement initiation and inhibition, and that motor decisions result from the integration of cognitive information onto perceptual features, extending the classical race model framework.
Limbic-Visual Disintegration and Salience-Control Specialization Characterize Tinnitus Network Topology.
Pandey HR, Keshri A, Sinha N … +1 more , Kumar U
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41630178 · Publisher ↗
Subjective tinnitus (ST) has been hypothesized to arise from large-scale network reorganization, but the affected circuits and their symptom scaling remain unclear. In a normal-hearing cohort (N = 114; 57 ST, 57 matched...
Subjective tinnitus (ST) has been hypothesized to arise from large-scale network reorganization, but the affected circuits and their symptom scaling remain unclear. In a normal-hearing cohort (N = 114; 57 ST, 57 matched controls), we combined resting-state fMRI graph topology, ROI-to-ROI connectivity, voxel-based morphometry (VBM), and multivariate modelling using a harmonized 50-ROI parcellation from the CONN atlas, spanning 15 functional networks. Node-wise analyses (covarying age, sex, education, and motion; multiple-comparison control) showed selective, not global, reconfiguration: reduced integration centered on the left posterior parahippocampal gyrus (lower global efficiency and degree), increased segregation/clustering in inferior frontal and anterior insular hubs, longer path length in parahippocampal and frontal regions, and elevated local efficiency in the right amygdala. Network-based revealed hyperconnectivity in fronto-salience-language-cerebellar circuits and hypoconnectivity across default mode and dorsal attention/temporo-parietal pathways. Symptom coupling was convergent and dissociable: Higher tinnitus severity/duration tracked reduced integration in medial visual/limbic regions with increased integration/degree in right frontal-temporal opercular nodes, whereas higher anxiety related to increased integration/clustering in subcallosal, cerebellar, and occipito-limbic territories alongside decreases in putamen. VBM demonstrated widespread white-matter reductions (inferior frontal, temporal pole, insula, inferior temporal gyrus, and putamen) with more focal gray-matter effects, and a multivariate GLM confirmed a robust omnibus group difference. These multimodal, symptom-linked signatures provide strong evidence that ST reflects targeted network reorganization reduced medial temporal/visual-limbic integration accompanied by increased local specialization within salience and control hubs and yield actionable circuit markers for patient stratification and mechanism-guided treatment targeting.
Approach Motivation and Reward Sensitivity: Effects of High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS) to Brain Hemispheres on Effort-Related Cardiovascular Response.
Framorando D, Gendolla GHE, Gable PA
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41630136 · Full text
This study examined the effect of brain hemisphere stimulation on effort intensity. We applied high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) to manipulate...
This study examined the effect of brain hemisphere stimulation on effort intensity. We applied high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) to manipulate left or right hemispheric activity and assess its impact on cardiovascular responses reflecting effort. In total, 102 participants (65 women, 37 men) performed a mental concentration task under right cathodal, left cathodal, or sham stimulation conditions. We recorded cardiovascular responses, including pre-ejection period (PEP), systolic blood pressure (SBP), heart rate (HR), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Preregistered hypotheses predicted right cathodal stimulation to lead to greater left frontal hemispheric activity. This should result in higher effort during a mental concentration task of unclear difficulty by increasing approach motivation and thus success importance. As predicted, right cathodal stimulation increased PEP and SBP reactivity, indicating higher effort compared to the left cathodal and sham stimulation conditions. However, this effect was only evident in women, with men exhibiting a contrasting pattern. Our findings highlight the sex-specific effects of brain stimulation on cardiovascular responses reflecting effort, with the anticipated effects appearing in women.
Secondary Somatosensory Cortex Is Required for Learning but Not Execution of a Tactile Discrimination.
Pandey A, Kang S, Pacchiarini N … +5 more , Wyszynska H, Masseri Z, O'Neill J, Honey RC, Fox K
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41609097 · Full text
The relationship between primary (S1) and secondary (S2) somatosensory cortex is not well understood, and the role of S2 in somatosensory function is not well defined. To test the role of S2 and its interplay with S1 in...
The relationship between primary (S1) and secondary (S2) somatosensory cortex is not well understood, and the role of S2 in somatosensory function is not well defined. To test the role of S2 and its interplay with S1 in learning a texture discrimination, we reversibly inhibited primary (S1) and/or secondary somatosensory cortex (S2) bilaterally using DREADDs and measured the effect on the ability of mice to learn a whisker-dependent tactile discrimination. Freely moving mice foraged in an arena that contained two bowls, one of which contained a buried food reward. The bowls could only be distinguished by the texture on the outer surface. DREADD-mediated inhibition suppressed sensory responses and disrupted network activity in the cortical area in which DREADDs were expressed. We found that both S1 and S2 were critical for learning the tactile discrimination. Tactile learning in naive mice required normal S2 function during the learning phase but not during the post-training consolidation phase of approximately 6 h. Furthermore, S2 was only required during learning. Once expert levels of discrimination had been attained, S2 was not required for execution of the learned discrimination. The role of S2 was confined to tactile learning and was not required for olfactory discrimination. Our findings suggest that S1 and S2 interact when learning a new tactile discrimination, but the learned skill eventually becomes independent of S2.
The Sensory Ecology of Tsetse Flies: Neuroscience Perspectives on a Disease Vector.
Adden A, Prieto-Godino LL
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41603308 · Full text
Tsetse flies (Glossina sp.) are important disease vectors with unique biology that makes them fascinating models to study the evolution of behaviour and its underlying neural circuits. They evolved blood-feeding in an in...
Tsetse flies (Glossina sp.) are important disease vectors with unique biology that makes them fascinating models to study the evolution of behaviour and its underlying neural circuits. They evolved blood-feeding in an independent event from mosquitoes, and unlike most insects, give birth to a single live offspring-rather than laying eggs. Given their impact on public health, they have been extensively studied with a strong focus on vector control. However, information on their sensory ecology and neurobiology is thinly spread across the literature. Here, we review over a hundred years of literature on tsetse sensory systems, including olfaction, vision, audition, taste, thermosensation and mechanosensation, in the context of the behaviours they drive, including host-finding, blood-feeding and mating. We embed the available data within our more detailed understanding of the sensory systems of the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster and other diptera. This sets the stage for future work on how tsetse find their hosts and reproduce, opening new avenues to understand how their sensory systems function and evolve, which in turn will inform better control strategies to reduce the burden of the diseases they transmit.
Increased Baseline Pupil Size Linked to Uncertainty Avoidance in Decision Making.
Kakaei E, Schlecht A, Hauser TU
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41603188 · Full text
Uncertainty is a key contributor to decision making, and humans show inconsistent attitudes towards it. Although excessive uncertainty-avoidance or uncertainty-seeking are hallmark symptoms of several mental conditions,...
Uncertainty is a key contributor to decision making, and humans show inconsistent attitudes towards it. Although excessive uncertainty-avoidance or uncertainty-seeking are hallmark symptoms of several mental conditions, the neural mechanism underlying uncertainty seeking and avoidance remains unclear. Here, we probed whether changes in pupil-linked arousal are indicative of uncertainty avoidance in humans. Investigating baseline pupil size to capture endogenous fluctuations across two experiments (N = 24, N = 21), we found that pretrial pupillary responses (as early as 700 ms prior to the onset of a trial) were closely related to uncertainty attitudes during multiarmed bandit tasks. Although increased baseline pupil size signalled avoidance in uncertainty-related decisions, it did not foreshadow value processing per se. The specificity of our results suggests that uncertainty processing is dynamic and depends on (potentially noradrenergic) endogenous pupil fluctuations.
Sustained Facilitation of Embodied Fake Hand Movement on Voluntary Movement Execution.
Shibuya S
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41591836 · Publisher ↗
In a rubber hand illusion, participants experience illusory ownership (embodiment) of a seen fake hand when it is stroked synchronously with their unseen real hand. A recent investigation demonstrated that participants e...
In a rubber hand illusion, participants experience illusory ownership (embodiment) of a seen fake hand when it is stroked synchronously with their unseen real hand. A recent investigation demonstrated that participants exhibited significantly faster reaction times when instructed to lift their index finger immediately after observing the index finger movement of an embodied (i.e., rubber hand illusion) versus a nonembodied (i.e., nonrubber hand illusion) fake hand. The current study examined whether this facilitation in reaction times arises from enhanced visual processing of the observed movement or from motor facilitation driven by a visuo-proprioceptive conflict between the embodied fake hand and the participant's hand. Two experiments were conducted, in which participants were required to lift their index finger in response to a neutral auditory stimulus following illusion induction. To isolate the contribution of visual processing, the visual stimulus (i.e., fake finger movement) was presented before the auditory cue with different stimulus onset asynchronies (500, 1000, or 1500 ms). In Experiment 1, the fake finger remained elevated until the participant initiated their movement, whereas it lowered soon in Experiment 2. The results revealed that the reaction time advantage in the rubber hand illusion condition was independent of stimulus onset asynchronies and emerged exclusively in Experiment 1. No significant differences were observed in peak velocity and acceleration of finger movement. These findings suggest that the ownership-dependent facilitation of reaction times is not due to visual processing alone but rather to motor facilitation mechanisms driven by visuo-proprioceptive discrepancy at the termination of the fake finger movement.
Profiles of Women in Science: Shubha Tole, Distinguished Professor at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, India, and President of the International Brain Research Organization.
Joëls M
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41587751 · Publisher ↗
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Ablation of the D1 Dopamine Receptor Alters the Migration and the Cortical Distribution of MGE-Derived Inhibitory Interneurons by a Preponderant Non-Cell-Autonomous Effect.
Toutain AG, Scotto-Lomassese S, Muzerelle A … +5 more , Puech J, Fayad A, Roumier A, Hervé D, Métin C
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41578866 · Publisher ↗
Others have shown that dopamine receptors regulate the migration of GABAergic cortical interneurons (cINs) to the developing cortex. Given the strong expression of Drd1, the gene encoding the D1 dopamine receptor (D1R) i...
Others have shown that dopamine receptors regulate the migration of GABAergic cortical interneurons (cINs) to the developing cortex. Given the strong expression of Drd1, the gene encoding the D1 dopamine receptor (D1R) in the developing cortex, we examined here the role of D1R in the cortical migration of interneurons born in the medial ganglionic eminence (MGE). Embryos of transgenic mice expressing cytoplasmic GFP under the control of the Drd1 promoter exhibited strong GFP expression in cells located in the deep cortical layers, including the subplate, and in the marginal zone. In co-culture experiments aimed at characterizing the effect of selective Drd1 ablation either in interneurons or in cortical plate cells on the migratory behavior of interneurons, we identified a prominent pro-migratory non-cell autonomous effect of Drd1 ablation in the cortical substrate. To assess whether Drd1 ablation in cortical cells could influence the final interneuron distribution in vivo, we analyzed the cortical distribution of parvalbumin and somatostatin positive interneurons in the cortex of Drd1-CKO (Drd1-/- cortical cells, Drd1+/+ interneurons) mice. Wild type parvalbumin and somatostatin interneurons exhibited slight but significant density changes and alterations of latero-dorsal distribution compatible with the pro-migratory effect of Drd1-/- cortical cells. In Drd1-KO animals (Drd1-/- cortical cells and Drd1-/- interneurons), the distribution alterations of parvalbumin and somatostatin interneurons were reminiscent of those in Drd1-CKO mutants. We thus propose that D1R regulates in the cortex the motility and distribution of MGE-derived cINs by preponderant non-cell-autonomous mechanism.
Correction to 'Activation of the RAS/B-RAF-MEK-ERK Pathway in Satellite Glial Cells Contributes to Substance p-Mediated Orofacial Pain'.
Eur J Neurosci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41578855 · Publisher ↗
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