This Week in Neuroscience

TWiN explores a study of hallucination-like perception in mice which supports the idea that hallucinations arise as faulty perceptual inferences due to elevated dopamine in the striatum.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Ori Lieberman, and Timothy Cheung

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• Listener poll - please take it
• Striatal dopamine and hallucination in mice (Science)
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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While perceptual constancy requires the brain to maintain a stable representation of sensory input, TWiN explores a study showing that odor-evoked responses in the olfactory cortex drift over periods of days to weeks.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Jason Shepherd, Timothy Cheung, and Vivianne Morrison

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• Representational drift in olfactory cortex (Nature) (open preprint)
• Ed Yong on representational drift (Atlantic)
• Letters read on TWiN 20
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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On this episode, Vivianne gives a primer on glial cells, with the goal of thinking about the central nervous system holistically and appreciating the different cell types that contribute to its function.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Jason Shepherd, Timothy Cheung, and Vivianne Morrison

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Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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Mauro Costa-Mattioli joins TWiN to discuss how his laboratory dissects the contribution of host genetics and the microbiome in complex neurodevelopment disorders such as autism spectrum disorders.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Ori Lieberman, Jason Shepherd, Timothy Cheung, and Vivianne Morrison

Guest: Mauro Costa-Mattioli

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• Mauro's work on TWiM 131 and 193
• Separating genetics and microbiome in autism (Cell)
• Please take our listener poll
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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Michael Nitabach joins TWiN to discuss the finding that the nematode C. elegans, which do not have eyes, can discriminate between colors to guide foraging decisions and move them away from harmful bacteria that produce a blue-pigment toxin.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Ori Lieberman, Jason Shepherd, Timothy Cheung, and Vivianne Morrison

Guest: Michael Nitabach

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• C. elegans discriminates colors (Science)
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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Helen joins TWiN to discuss her work on understanding how the maternal microbiome modulates fetal neurodevelopment in mice.

Hosts: Ori Lieberman, Andres Bendesky, Jason Shepherd, and Vincent Racaniello

Guest: Helen Vuong

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• Maternal microbiome influences fetal neurodevelopment (Nature)
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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Ori, Jason, and Vincent discuss the use of antibodies to neutralize amyloid-β seeds before their deposition becomes detectable in transgenic mice, and the finding that the preclinical phase of Alzheimer's disease may be a late manifestation of earlier pathogenic seed formation.

Hosts: Ori Lieberman, Jason Shepherd, and Vincent Racaniello

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• Reducing Alzheimer-like pathology in mice (Nat Neurosci)
• Letters read on TWiN 13
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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Ori, Jason, Erin, and Vincent dissect a study that utilizes single-cell RNA sequencing to reveal the genes that underlie remote memory storage in the medial prefrontal cortex of the mouse.

Hosts: Ori Lieberman, Erin Calipari, Jason Shepherd, and Vincent Racaniello

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• Transcriptional programs associated with long-term memory (Nature)
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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Ori, Jason, and Vincent reveal identification of an orphan receptor that modifies short-term memory in mice, and a mouse model of COVID-19 that includes anosmia or loss of smell.

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• Thalamic orphan receptor in short term memory (Cell)
• Anosmia in SARS-CoV-2 infected mice (Nature)
• Letters read on TWiN 12
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your neuroscience questions and comments to twin@microbe.tv

Maria joins TWiN to explain how single-cell transcriptomics is being used to reveal the evolution of the brain, at a cost of about $1 per neuron.

Hosts: Ori Lieberman, Andres Bendesky, and Vincent Racaniello

Guest: Maria Tosches

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Links for this episode

• Single-cell transcriptomics of reptile cortex (Science)
• Innovations in primate interneurons (Nature)
• Human versus mouse cortex (Nature)
• Letters read on TWiN 11
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your neuroscience questions and comments to twin@microbe.tv

TWiN explains how a cytokine produced by neurons activates microglia which modify the extracellular matrix and remodel synapses, leading to memory consolidation.

Hosts: Ori Lieberman, Andres Bendesky, Erin Calipari, Jason Shepherd and Vincent Racaniello

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Links for this episode

• IL-33 promotes synaptic plasticity (Cell)
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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Columbia University Chief Neurology Resident Genna Waldman joins TWiN to explains how her department prepared for COVID-19, and the neurological symptoms associated with the disease.

Hosts: Ori Lieberman, Andres Bendesky, Jason Shepherd and Vincent Racaniello

Guest: Genna Waldman

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Links for this episode

• Preparing a neurology department for COVID-19 (Neurology)
• Managing comatose COVID-19 patients (Ann Neurol)
• Neuropathology of COVID-19 (NEJM)
• Letters read on TWiN 9
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your neuroscience questions and comments to twin@microbe.tv

TWiN explains how neurological disease in mice can be repaired by using CRISPR/Cas to knock down levels of a single cell protein, which converts astrocytes to neurons.

Hosts: Ori Lieberman, Erin Calipari, Jason Shepherd and Vincent Racaniello

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Links for this episode

• Converting glia to neurons (Cell)
• Reversing Parkinson's disease (Nature)
• Letters read on TWiN 8
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your neuroscience questions and comments to twin@microbe.tv

The TWiN team reveals how the nervous system controls hair graying in mice subjected to stress, and adaptive immune responses.

Hosts: Ori Lieberman, Jason Shepherd, Erin Calipari and Vincent Racaniello

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Links for the episode

• The hair cycle (J Cell Sci)
• Hyperactivation of sympathetic nerves drives hair greying (Nature)
• Brain control of humoral immune responses (Nature)
• Letters read on TWiN 7
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your neuroscience questions and comments to twin@microbe.tv

Nirao Shah joins TWiN to discuss the work of his laboratory on how our brains generate social interactions that differ between the sexes.

Hosts: Ori Lieberman, Andres Bendesky, andJason Shepherd

Guest: Nirao Shah

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• Nirao Shah laboratory
• Neural circuit remodeling and sexual behavior (Cell)
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your neuroscience questions and comments to twin@microbe.tv

Bob Datta joins TWiN to reveal the findings of his laboratory on expression of SARS-CoV-2 entry genes in the olfactory epithelium and the implications for anosmia associated with COVID-19.

Hosts: Ori Lieberman, Andres Bendesky, Jason Shepherd, Erin Calipari and Vincent Racaniello

Guest: Bob Datta

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• Expression of SARS-CoV-2 entry genes in nasal olfactory epithelium (bioRxiv)
• Expression of SARS-CoV-2 entry genes in nasal olfactory epithelium (bioRxiv)
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your neuroscience questions and comments to twin@microbe.tv

Jason visits the TWiN studio to explain Arc Capsid Bearing Any RNAs (ACBARs), virus-like capsids that transfer genetic information between neurons.

Hosts: Andres Bendesky, Jason Shepherd, and Vincent Racaniello

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• Arc is a repurposed retrotransposon gag protein that mediates intercellular RNA transfer (Cell)
• Drosophila gag-like ARC1 (Cell)
• Letters read on TWiN #4
• Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your neuroscience questions and comments to twin@microbe.tv

Erin and the TWiN team explain how dopamine neurons encode reward probability and uncertainty, and their roles in attention-based learning and risk-taking such as gambling and addiction.

Hosts: Ori Lieberman, Erin Calipari,Jason Shepherd, and Vincent Racaniello

Click arrow to play Download TWiN 003 (52 MB .mp3, 86 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

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• Dopamine neurons encode reward probability and uncertainty (Science)
• Letters read on TWiN #3

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your neuroscience questions and comments to twin@microbe.tv

The TWiN team explain the basic principles of synaptic transmission, and review a classic paper demonstrating that recycling endosomes are important for modifying synaptic strength, which is involved in information storage and processing.

Hosts: Ori Lieberman, Andres Bendesky,Jason Shepherd, and Vincent Racaniello

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• Bendesky lab
• Recycling Endosomes Supply AMPA Receptors for LTP (Science)
• AMPA receptor (Wikipedia)
• Image credit
• Letters read on TWiN #2

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your neuroscience questions and comments to twin@microbe.tv

The synaptics launch the first episode of TWiN by revealing their training, research interests, and goals for the podcast.

Hosts: Ori Lieberman, Erin Calipari, Jason Shepherd, and Vincent Racaniello

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• Lieberman lab
• Calipari lab
• Shepherd lab
• Image credit

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your neuroscience questions and comments to twin@microbe.tv