Academic Background Hereditary deafness is one of the most common sensory disorders worldwide, affecting over 400 million people, with approximately 60% of congenital deafness linked to genetic factors. Although adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated gene therapy shows great potential in treating hereditary deafness, significant concerns remain rega...

Dynorphin is an endogenous opioid peptide that primarily acts through κ-opioid receptors (KOR) and is widely involved in the regulation of various behaviors, including reward and aversive responses. However, the specific mechanisms of Dynorphin/KOR signaling in reward-seeking behaviors remain unclear. Previous research has predominantly focused on ...

In the mammalian brain, auditory perception relies on the transmission of information from the thalamus to the cortex. For a long time, the medial geniculate body (MGB) has been considered the primary hub of the auditory thalamus, responsible for transmitting sound signals to the auditory cortex (Auc). However, whether other thalamic inputs also pa...

Academic Background The hippocampus is a critical region in the brain responsible for spatial navigation and episodic memory. Pyramidal neurons in the CA1 region of the hippocampus (CA1 pyramidal neurons, CA1PNs) encode an animal’s position in the environment by forming “place fields” (PFs). The formation of place fields relies on behavioral timesc...

Academic Background Neuroscience research has made significant progress over the past decade, particularly in the development of neurotechnologies and genetic tools for dissecting neural circuit functions. However, the advancement of neuropharmacological methodologies has lagged in comparison. Understanding the precise pharmacological mechanisms of...

Academic Background Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), are often accompanied by abnormal aggregation and propagation of pathological proteins. The abnormal aggregation of α-synuclein is a central pathological feature of Parkinson’s disease and other synucleinopathies. Although extensive resear...

Academic Background Sleep plays a crucial role in memory formation, particularly non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, which is considered a critical stage for memory consolidation. However, the specific mechanisms underlying memory consolidation, especially how intracellular signaling molecules coordinate with neural activity, remain a mystery. Cyc...

Academic Background Stroke is one of the leading causes of adult disability globally, with the core issue being neuronal damage and neurological dysfunction. Although neurogenesis and neurorepair after stroke are considered crucial for recovery, the specific mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Recent studies have shown that immune cells play...

Academic Background The somatosensory system plays a crucial role in processing diverse sensory signals such as mechanical, thermal, pain, and itch sensations. These signals are transmitted through various types of peripheral afferents to the spinal cord, where they are extensively processed and integrated before being relayed to the brain by spina...

Academic Background Cognitive control is the ability to flexibly adjust behavior according to goals and contexts, and the prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a crucial role in this process. Previous research suggested that the PFC reads out rules from high-dimensional representations of task variables to guide behavior. However, increasing evidence indic...