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Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3), particularly the isoform GSK3β, has been implicated in a wide range of physiological systems and neurological disorders including Alzheimer's Disease. However, the functional importance of GSK3α has been largely untested. The multifunctionality of GSK3 limits its potential as a drug target because of inevitable side effects. Due to its greater expression in the CNS, GSK3β rather than GSK3α has also been assumed to be of primary importance in synaptic plasticity. Here, we investigate bidirectional long-term synaptic plasticity in knockin mice with a point mutation in GSK3α or GSK3β that prevents their inhibitory regulation. We report that only the mutation in GSK3α affects long-term potentiation (LTP) and depression (LTD). This stresses the importance of investigating isoform specificity for GSK3 in all systems and suggests that GSK3α should be investigated as a drug target in cognitive disorders including Alzheimer's Disease.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hipo.22362 | DOI Listing |
Stroke
September 2025
Brain Language Laboratory, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany (A.-T.P.J., M.R.O., A.S., F.P.).
Background: Intensive language-action therapy treats language deficits and depressive symptoms in chronic poststroke aphasia, yet the underlying neural mechanisms remain underexplored. Long-range temporal correlations (LRTCs) in blood oxygenation level-dependent signals indicate persistence in brain activity patterns and may relate to learning and levels of depression. This observational study investigates blood oxygenation level-dependent LRTC changes alongside therapy-induced language and mood improvements in perisylvian and domain-general brain areas.
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September 2025
Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.
Neuronal networks in animal brains are considered to realize specific filter functions through the precise configuration of synaptic weights, which are autonomously regulated without external supervision. In this study, we employ a single Hodgkin-Huxley-type neuron with autapses as a minimum model to computationally investigate how spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) adjusts synaptic weights through recurrent feedback. The results show that the weights undergo oscillatory potentiation or depression with respect to autaptic delay and high-frequency stimulation.
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September 2025
Neuroscience Institute, National Research Council (CNR), Pisa, Italy.
Neural circuits sculpt their structure and modify the strength of their connections to effectively adapt to the external stimuli throughout life. In response to practice and experience, the brain learns to distinguish previously undetectable stimulus features recurring in the external environment. The unconscious acquisition of improved perceptual abilities falls into a form of implicit learning known as perceptual learning.
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September 2025
Department of Mechano-Informatics, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Introduction: Understanding how neural networks process complex patterns of information is crucial for advancing both neuroscience and artificial intelligence. To investigate fundamental principles of neural computation, we examined whether dissociated neuronal cultures, one of the most primitive living neural networks, exhibit regularity sensitivity beyond mere stimulus-specific adaptation and deviance detection.
Methods: We recorded activity to oddball electrical stimulation paradigms from dissociated rat cortical neurons cultured on high-resolution CMOS microelectrode arrays.
Adv Sci (Weinh)
September 2025
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Medical Materials and Devices, Medical College, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China.
Recent breakthroughs in tumor biology have redefined the tumor microenvironment as a dynamic ecosystem in which the nervous system has emerged as a pivotal regulator of oncogenesis. In addition to their classical developmental roles, neural‒tumor interactions orchestrate a sophisticated network that drives cancer initiation, stemness maintenance, metabolic reprogramming, and therapeutic evasion. This crosstalk operates through multimodal mechanisms, including paracrine signaling, electrophysiological interactions, and structural innervation guided by axon-derived guidance molecules.
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