Functional MRI reveals brain-wide actions of thalamically-initiated oscillatory activities on associative memory consolidation by Xunda Wang, Alex T. L. Leong, Shawn Z. K. Tan, Eddie C. Wong, Yilong Liu, Lee-Wei Lim, Ed X. Wu

“…Using functional MRI (fMRI) and electrophysiology recordings in male rats, we found that optogenetically-evoked somatosensory thalamic spindle-like activities targeted numerous sensorimotor (cortex, thalamus, brainstem and basal ganglia) and non-sensorimotor limbic regions (cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus) in a stimulation frequency- and length-dependent manner. …”
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An inhibitory circuit from central amygdala to zona incerta drives pain-related behaviors in mice by Sudhuman Singh, Torri D Wilson, Spring Valdivia, Barbara Benowitz, Sarah Chaudhry, Jun Ma, Anisha P Adke, Omar Soler-Cedeño, Daniela Velasquez, Mario A Penzo, Yarimar Carrasquillo

“…In contrast, chemogenetic activation of GABAergic ZI neurons reversed nerve injury-induced hypersensitivity. Optogenetic manipulations of CeA-PKCδ axonal terminals in the ZI further showed that inhibition of this pathway reduces nerve injury-induced hypersensitivity whereas activation of the pathway produces hypersensitivity in the uninjured paws. …”
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Drug reinforcement impairs cognitive flexibility by inhibiting striatal cholinergic neurons by Himanshu Gangal, Xueyi Xie, Zhenbo Huang, Yifeng Cheng, Xuehua Wang, Jiayi Lu, Xiaowen Zhuang, Amanda Essoh, Yufei Huang, Ruifeng Chen, Laura N. Smith, Rachel J. Smith, Jun Wang

“…Moreover, chemogenetic and time-locked optogenetic inhibition of DMS CINs suppressed flexibility of goal-directed behavior in instrumental reversal learning tasks. …”
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Ca2+ entry into neurons is facilitated by cooperative gating of clustered CaV1.3 channels by Claudia M Moreno, Rose E Dixon, Sendoa Tajada, Can Yuan, Ximena Opitz-Araya, Marc D Binder, Luis F Santana

“…Here, we report the results of super-resolution imaging, optogenetic, and electrophysiological measurements that refute this long-held view. …”
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On the Fabrication and Characterization of Polymer-Based Waveguide Probes for Use in Future Optical Cochlear Implants by Christian Helke, Markus Reinhardt, Markus Arnold, Falk Schwenzer, Micha Haase, Matthias Wachs, Christian Goßler, Jonathan Götz, Daniel Keppeler, Bettina Wolf, Jannis Schaeper, Tim Salditt, Tobias Moser, Ulrich Theodor Schwarz, Danny Reuter

“…Improved hearing restoration by cochlear implants (CI) is expected by optical cochlear implants (oCI) exciting optogenetically modified spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) via an optical pulse generated outside the cochlea. …”
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Phasic locus coeruleus activity enhances trace fear conditioning by increasing dopamine release in the hippocampus by Jacob H Wilmot, Cassiano RAF Diniz, Ana P Crestani, Kyle R Puhger, Jacob Roshgadol, Lin Tian, Brian Joseph Wiltgen

“…We find that the LC and its projections to the hippocampus respond to task-relevant stimuli and that amplifying these responses with optogenetic stimulation can enhance long-term memory formation. …”
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Characterization of a thalamic nucleus mediating habenula responses to changes in ambient illumination by Ruey-Kuang Cheng, Seetha Krishnan, Qian Lin, Caroline Kibat, Suresh Jesuthasan

“…Lesioning the neuropil of this thalamic nucleus reduced the habenula response to light ON and OFF. Optogenetic stimulation of the thalamus with channelrhodopsin-2 caused depolarization in the habenula, while manipulation with anion channelrhodopsins inhibited habenula response to light and disrupted climbing and diving evoked by illumination change. …”
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Pathway-, layer- and cell-type-specific thalamic input to mouse barrel cortex by B Semihcan Sermet, Pavel Truschow, Michael Feyerabend, Johannes M Mayrhofer, Tess B Oram, Ofer Yizhar, Jochen F Staiger, Carl CH Petersen

“…The first-order ventral posterior medial (VPM) somatosensory thalamic nucleus most densely innervates layer 4 (L4) barrels, whereas the higher-order posterior thalamic nucleus (medial part, POm) most densely innervates L1 and L5A. We optogenetically stimulated VPM or POm axons, and recorded evoked excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) in different cell-types across cortical layers in wS1. …”
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Purkinje cell outputs selectively inhibit a subset of unipolar brush cells in the input layer of the cerebellar cortex by Chong Guo, Stephanie Rudolph, Morgan E Neuwirth, Wade G Regehr

“…PC to UBC synapses allow PC output to regulate the input layer of the cerebellar cortex in diverse ways. Based on optogenetic studies and a small number of paired recordings, GABAAR-mediated feedback is fast and unreliable. …”
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Prenatal dexamethasone exposure alters effort decision making and triggers nucleus accumbens and anterior cingulate cortex functional changes in male rats by Ana Verónica Domingues, Bárbara Coimbra, Raquel Correia, Catarina Deseyve, Natacha Vieitas-Gaspar, Stan B. Floresco, Nuno Sousa, Carina Soares-Cunha, Ana João Rodrigues

“…Electrophysiological recordings during optogenetic modulation of ACC terminals in the NAc revealed that the ACC-NAc circuit is dysfunctional in iuGC animals. …”
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In silico exploration of mouse brain dynamics by focal stimulation reflects the organization of functional networks and sensory processing by Andreas Spiegler, Javad Karimi Abadchi, Majid Mohajerani, Viktor K. Jirsa

“…Moreover, we compared simulated dynamics against in vivo brain responses to optogenetic stimulation. Our results underwrite the importance of anatomical connectivity in the functional organization of brain networks and demonstrate how functionally differentiated information processing chains arise from the same system.…”
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Behavioral dissection of hunger states in Drosophila by Kristina J Weaver, Sonakshi Raju, Rachel A Rucker, Tuhin Chakraborty, Robert A Holt, Scott D Pletcher

“…Using a genetically encoded marker of neuronal activity, we find that the mushroom body (MB) lobes are activated by hedonic food environments, and we use optogenetic inhibition to implicate a dopaminergic neuron cluster (protocerebral anterior medial [PAM]) to α’/β’ MB circuit in hedonic feeding motivation. …”
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Photocobilins integrate B12 and bilin photochemistry for enzyme control by Shaowei Zhang, Laura N. Jeffreys, Harshwardhan Poddar, Yuqi Yu, Chuanyang Liu, Kaylee Patel, Linus O. Johannissen, Lingyun Zhu, Matthew J. Cliff, Cunyu Yan, Giorgio Schirò, Martin Weik, Michiyo Sakuma, Colin W. Levy, David Leys, Derren J. Heyes, Nigel S. Scrutton

“…Their characterisation provides inspiration for the design of broad-spectrum optogenetic tools and next generation bio-photocatalysts.…”
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Dopaminergic regulation of vestibulo-cerebellar circuits through unipolar brush cells by Jose Ernesto Canton-Josh, Joanna Qin, Joseph Salvo, Yevgenia Kozorovitskiy

“…Using an optical dopamine sensor GRABDA2h, electrical stimulation, and optogenetic activation of LC fibers in the acute slice, we find evidence for monoamine release onto Drd1-expressing UBCs. …”
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An open cortico-basal ganglia loop allows limbic control over motor output via the nigrothalamic pathway by Sho Aoki, Jared B Smith, Hao Li, Xunyi Yan, Masakazu Igarashi, Patrice Coulon, Jeffery R Wickens, Tom JH Ruigrok, Xin Jin

“…Slice electrophysiology verifies that the projection from ventral striatum functionally inhibits nigro-thalamic SNr neurons. In vivo optogenetic stimulation of ventral or dorsolateral striatum to SNr pathway modulates activity in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and motor cortex (M1), respectively. …”
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Aggregation of alpha-synuclein disrupts mitochondrial metabolism and induce mitophagy via cardiolipin externalization by Olivier Lurette, Rebeca Martín-Jiménez, Mehtab Khan, Razan Sheta, Stéphanie Jean, Mia Schofield, Maxime Teixeira, Raquel Rodriguez-Aller, Isabelle Perron, Abid Oueslati, Etienne Hebert-Chatelain

“…We recently generated a new optogenetic tool by which we can spatiotemporally control the aggregation of α-synuclein using a light-induced protein aggregation system. …”
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Thalamic reticular control of local sleep in mouse sensory cortex by Laura MJ Fernandez, Gil Vantomme, Alejandro Osorio-Forero, Romain Cardis, Elidie Béard, Anita Lüthi

“…We identify the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) as a source for local, sensory-cortex-specific non-rapid-eye-movement sleep (NREMS) in mouse. Neurons in optogenetically identified sensory TRN sectors showed stronger repetitive burst discharge compared to non-sensory TRN cells due to higher activity of the low-threshold Ca2+ channel CaV3.3. …”
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ACx-projecting cholinergic neurons in the NB influence the BLA ensembles to modulate the discrimination of auditory fear memory by Yan Yan, Da Song, Yue Jin, Yujun Deng, Chunjian Wang, Tao Huang, Yuanhong Tang, Yu Yang, Yun Zhang, Zhe Wang, Zhifang Dong, Yuetian Wang, Juan Zhao, Junjun Ni, Hui Li, Jun Zhang, Yiran Lang, Yili Wu, Hong Qing, Zhenzhen Quan

“…At the encoding stage, optogenetic inhibition of cholinergic projections of NB-ACx obfuscates distinct tone-responsive neurons of ACx recognizing from fear-paired tone to fear-unpaired tone signals, while simultaneously regulating the neuronal activity and reactivation of basal lateral amygdala (BLA) engram cells at the retrieval stage. …”
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BNST GABAergic neurons modulate wakefulness over sleep and anesthesia by Mengyao Li, Wen Li, Shanshan Liang, Xiang Liao, Miaoqing Gu, Huiming Li, Xiaowei Chen, Hongliang Liu, Han Qin, Jingyu Xiao

“…Here, using in vivo fiber photometry combined with electroencephalography, electromyography, and video recordings, we found that BNST GABAergic neurons exhibited arousal-state-dependent alterations, with high activities in both wakefulness and rapid-eye movement sleep, but suppressed during anesthesia. Optogenetic activation of these neurons could initiate and maintain wakefulness, and even induce arousal from anesthesia. …”
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Ca2+ signaling driving pacemaker activity in submucosal interstitial cells of Cajal in the murine colon by Salah A Baker, Wesley A Leigh, Guillermo Del Valle, Inigo F De Yturriaga, Sean M Ward, Caroline A Cobine, Bernard T Drumm, Kenton M Sanders

“…We show the complex patterns of Ca2+ signaling in ICC-SM and the relationship between ICC-SM Ca2+ transients and activation of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) using optogenetic tools. ICC-SM displayed rhythmic firing of Ca2+transients ~ 15 cpm and paced adjacent SMCs. …”
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