Memories that last a lifetime are thought to be stored, at least in part, as persistent enhancement of the strength of particular synapses. The synaptic mechanism of these persistent changes, late long-term potentiation (L-LTP), depends on the state and number of specific synaptic proteins. Synaptic proteins, however, have limited dwell times due…

Balancing habitual and deliberate forms of choice entails a comparison of their respective merits--the former being faster but inflexible, and the latter slower but more versatile. Here, we show that arbitration between these two forms of control can be derived from first principles within an Active Inference scheme. We illustrate our arguments…

By combining emerging technologies with cognitive and education theories, we are capitalizing on recent findings from adaptive exploration and embodied learning research to address significant gaps in the education of brain sciences for school children and college level students. Through the development of virtual learning tools in combination…

Songbirds share a number of parallels with humans that make them an attractive model system for studying the behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms that underlie the learning and processing of vocal communication signals. Here we review the perceptual and cognitive mechanisms of audition in birds, and emphasize the behavioral and neural basis…

Both limb and cranial motor functions are adversely impacted by Parkinson's disease (PD). While current pharmacological and surgical interventions are effective in alleviating general limb motor symptoms of PD, they have failed to provide significant benefit for cranial motor functions. This suggests that the neuropathologies mediating limb and…

Mammillary body atrophy is present in a number of neurological conditions and recent clinical findings highlight the importance of these nuclei for memory. While most accounts of diencephalic amnesia emphasize the functional importance of the hippocampal projections to the mammillary bodies, the present study tested the importance of the other…

In multiple sclerosis, CD8 T-cells are thought play a key pathogenetic role, but mechanistic evidence from rodent models is limited. Here, we have tested the encephalitogenic potential of CD8 T-cells specific for the model antigen ovalbumin (OVA) sequestered in oligodendrocytes as a cytosolic molecule. We show that in these "ODC-OVA" mice, the…

The return to drug seeking, even after prolonged periods of abstinence, is a defining feature of cocaine addiction. The neural circuitry underlying relapse has been identified in neuropharmacological studies of experimental animals, typically rats, and supported in brain imaging studies of human addicts. Although the nucleus accumbens (NAcc),…

Autism symptoms, including impairments in language development, social interactions, and motor skills, have been difficult to model in rodents. Since children exposed in utero to sodium valproate (VPA) demonstrate behavioral and neuroanatomical abnormalities similar to those seen in autism, the neurodevelopmental effects of this antiepileptic…