The cortex and basal ganglia exhibit interdependent changes during learning. However, it is not clear whether plasticity occurs sequentially or concurrently across these structures. To address this question, we simultaneously recorded cortical and striatal activity while training mice on a visuomotor association task that involved turning a wheel to move a stimulus from a cue position to a target position. Prior to the development of learned behavior, context-independent visual responses increased in the visual-recipient striatum. This was followed by the emergence of context-dependent stimulus responses in both the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the mPFC-recipient striatum at the onset of learned behavior. All of these regions also exhibited increased responses to stimuli in the rewarded target position. However, while the visual-recipient striatum was non-selective between cue and target stimuli, the mPFC and mPFC-recipient striatum switched from being target-stimulus responsive before learning to being cue-stimulus responsive after learning. Our results suggest that sensorimotor learning involves routing stimulus information first to the sensory striatum and then to frontal motor circuits.

Cholinergic interneurons (CINs) are essential elements of striatal circuits and functions. Although acetylcholine signaling via muscarinic receptors (mAChRs) has been well studied, more recent data indicate that postsynaptic nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) located on striatal GABAergic interneurons (GINs) are equally critical. One example is that CIN stimulation induces large disynaptic inhibition of striatal projection neurons (SPNs) mediated by nAChR activation of GINs. Although these circuits are ideally positioned to modulate striatal output, the neurons involved are not definitively identified because of an incomplete mapping of CINs-GINs interconnections. Here, we show that CINs modulate four GINs populations via an intricate mechanism involving co-activation of presynaptic and postsynaptic mAChRs and nAChRs. Using optogenetics, we demonstrate the participation of tyrosine hydroxylase-expressing GINs in the disynaptic inhibition of SPNs via heterotypic electrical coupling with neurogliaform interneurons. Altogether, our results highlight the importance of CINs in regulating GINs microcircuits via complex synaptic/heterosynaptic mechanisms.

Voltage imaging has emerged as a powerful tool for recording membrane potential changes in living cells, offering a direct measurement of rapid neuronal events with high temporal precision. Since the brain is a three-dimensional circuit, it is essential to record signals across a volume. However, achieving effective three-dimensional voltage imaging over large neuronal populations remains challenging due to the need for high imaging speed, high signal-to-noise ratio, and extensive volume coverage. In this study, we demonstrate in vivo three-dimensional voltage imaging in larval zebrafish using oblique plane microscopy and QFDBD-QUAS-driven expression of the genetically encoded voltage indicator Ace-mNeon2-Kv2.1, achieving volumetric imaging rates of up to 200 volumes per second (VPS). This approach enables dye-free voltage imaging, simplifying experimental workflows and improving the reproducibility of in vivo voltage imaging experiments for investigating neuronal circuit dynamics in the living zebrafish animal model.

Basal Ganglia Advances is a collection highlighting research on the structure, function, and disorders of the basal ganglia. It features studies spanning neuroscience, clinical insights, and computational models, serving as a hub for advances in movement, cognition, and behavior.

Recent advances in the field of Voltage Imaging, with a special focus on new constructs and novel implementations.

Work related to place tuning, spatial navigation, orientation and direction. Mainly includes articles on connectivity in the hippocampus, retrosplenial cortex, and related areas.

Cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) can exhibit reversible structural colors through selective reflection from their helical superstructures when well-defined planar alignment and a visible-range helical pitch are established. Although CLC photonic systems have been extended beyond planar cells to 3D geometries such as droplets, shells, and fibers, the integrated fabrication of complex architected CLC display structures with programmable spatiotemporal color control remains underexplored. Here, we introduce a multi-material 3D printing approach that advances 3D-printed CLCs from static photonic patterns to architected display systems with spatiotemporally controllable color output. Shear-thinning CLC composite inks enable high-fidelity extrusion while retaining reversible structural coloration, supporting patterned films and freestanding 3D photonic architectures. Co-printed conductive Joule-heating circuits form monolithic electrothermal devices, where local temperature and reflection wavelength are precisely encoded via circuit geometry. This strategy achieves spatiotemporally programmable multicolor outputs within a single device. Integrated into a soft robotic gripper, the system provides real-time visual temperature feedback and enables adaptive actuation, establishing a scalable materials-to-device framework for programmable, interactive photonic architectures.

Biocompatible and biodegradable electrode platforms were developed using laser-scribed poly(lactic acid)/graphene oxide (PLA/GO) composites, prepared via an innovative waterborne dispersion method. Laser treatment enabled the formation of graphene/graphite-like structures. By varying the fluence of the laser used, it was possible to modulate the physico-chemical properties of the conductive traces obtained, finally leading to materials characterized by tunable sheet resistance, chemical structure, and morphology. Thanks to the low charge transfer resistance and the peculiar electrocatalytic and antifouling properties observed, the platforms were applied as electrochemical sensors for the detection of various biomarkers in biological fluids, namely ascorbic and uric acid, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and catecholamine-based neurotransmitters, outperforming commercial carbon screen-printed electrodes. Contextually, laser-scribed electrodes were used to demonstrate the effectiveness of a novel approach for selectively stimulating Ca signaling in astrocytes. The results here reported open the possibility to apply laser-scribed PLA/GO as innovative eco-sustainable solutions for simultaneous treatment of pathological conditions and monitoring of the resulting neurotransmitter expression in in vitro and in vivo models.

Reliable hydrogen monitoring requires sensors that combine high sensitivity, wide dynamic range, and resistance to environmental interference. Here, we report a monolithically integrated dual-Fabry-Pérot interferometer (dual-FPI) fiber-optic hydrogen sensor that couples twin Vernier spectral amplification with a lightweight dual-branch fusion convolutional neural network (DBF-CNN). The sensor incorporates a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-filled temperature reference cavity and a PDMS/Pd-WO3 hydrogen-sensitive cavity on a single fiber, enabling intrinsic temperature compensation and humidity-insensitive detection without external reference devices. Digital twin Vernier amplification provides an approximately 10-fold sensitivity enhancement, giving a sensitivity of -62.989 nm/% and a limit of detection of 5.33 ppm. To resolve the wavelength ambiguity imposed by the free spectral range (FSR), we combine physics-guided spectral data augmentation with a lightweight DBF-CNN regression model to achieve end-to-end 0-100% volume fraction hydrogen concentration inversion, with an R2 of 0.999443 and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.682%. This integrated sensing strategy simultaneously addresses sensitivity, detection range, and environmental cross-sensitivity, offering a compact approach for fiber-optic hydrogen safety monitoring.