Featured Research

eNeuro is introducing a new statistics policy that encourages the use of estimation statistics. Learn more about estimation statistics from Robert J. Calin–Jageman and Geoff Cumming, and read about the new initiative in Editor–in–Chief Christophe Bernard’s latest editorial.

We welcome your thoughts about this initiative and using estimation statistics or other ways to perform statistical analysis in your field of study. Join the discussion with Bernard and Calin–Jageman.

Effects of Single Cage Housing on Stress, Cognitive, and Seizure Parameters in the Rat and Mouse Pilocarpine Models of Epilepsy

H. Manouze, A. Ghestem, V. Poillerat, M. Bennis, S. Ba–M’hamed, J. J. Benoliel, C. Becker and C. Bernard

The traditional method of housing mice and rats alone increases stress and worsens epilepsy, which can interfere with data interpretation. Manouze et al. examined the stress phenotype of rat and mice pilocarpine models of epilepsy. The rodents housed in isolation for six weeks displayed impaired cognitive performance and increased levels of anxiety and stress markers. Additionally, the rodents experienced more severe and frequent seizures compared to the control rodents housed in pairs. The authors propose that social isolation produces a stress phenotype that impacts seizure frequency, which is a factor that needs to be considered during data interpretation, especially in preclinical trials.

Heartbeat Induces a Cortical Theta–Synchronized Network in the Resting State

Jaejoong Kim and Bumseok Jeong

Complex brain processing usually occurs at a network level, which requires an interaction between brain regions. However, despite its importance in homeostasis and affective processing, a network level processing of cardiac interoception has not been investigated. Here, we first provided an evidence that the heartbeat induces phase synchronizations between cortical regions those comprise a heartbeat–induced network (HIN) with control analyses excluding the possibility of an artificial synchronization. Furthermore, by applying graph–theoretical analysis, we find hubs of the HIN and found out that it is a modularized network with five modules. Finally, we also showed the relationship between the participants’ mood and the HIN. These results provide the first evidence of network–level heartbeat processing and its relevance with emotion.

Alpha Neurofeedback Has a Positive Effect for Participants Who Are Unable To Sustain Their Alpha Activity

Ankan Biswas and Supratim Ray

We tested whether providing a real time auditory feedback about the strength of the EEG alpha rhythm helps the participants increase their alpha power. Unlike previous neurofeedback studies that used valid and invalid feedback on different participant groups, we used a design in which valid, invalid and neutral feedback were given to the same participant. We found that for participants whose alpha power reduced over time within a trial, valid feedback helped to sustain the rhythm better than invalid feedback. Further, feedback appeared to be more useful for participants who did not attend the tone. These findings can be used to better screen and design neurofeedback training paradigm, which is now used to treat patients suffering from anxiety and depression.

Tmem119–EGFP and Tmem119–CreERT2 Transgenic Mice for Labeling and Manipulating Microglia

Tobias Kaiser and Guoping Feng

Tools that specifically label and manipulate only microglia are currently unavailable, but are critically needed to further our understanding of this cell type. Complementing and significantly extending recently introduced microglia–specific immunostaining methods that have quickly become a new standard in the field, we generated two mouse lines that label and control gene expression in microglia with high specificity and made them publicly available. Using these readily accessible mice, the research community will be able to study microglia biology with improved specificity.

Visual Motion and Form Integration in the Behaving Ferret

Erika Dunn–Weiss, Samuel U. Nummela, Augusto A. Lempel, Jody Law, Johanna Ledley, Peter Salvino, and Kristina J. Nielsen

The ferret is a central animal model for development because of its early parturition. To date, most visual development research in ferrets has focused exclusively on early visual stages. Here, we use behavioral experiments to demonstrate that adult ferrets are capable of visual motion and form integration. These complex visual functions are usually associated with higher–level visual areas in monkeys and ferrets. We similarly observed good agreement between the motion integration performance of neurons in PSS, a higher–level motion area in the ferret, and the behaviorally measured motion integration capacity. Our experiments in the adult ferret demonstrate that the ferret is a viable model for higher–level vision research, which provides exciting opportunities for developmental research in this species.