Population-specific neuromodulation prolongs therapeutic benefits of deep brain stimulation.

Symptoms of neurological diseases emerge through the dysfunction of neural circuits whose diffuse and intertwined architectures pose serious challenges for delivering therapies. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) improves Parkinson's disease symptoms acutely but does not differentiate between neuronal circuits, and its effects decay rapidly if stimulation is discontinued. Recent findings suggest that optogenetic manipulation of distinct neuronal subpopulations in the external globus pallidus (GPe) provides long-lasting therapeutic effects in dopamine-depleted (DD) mice. We used synaptic differences to excite parvalbumin-expressing GPe neurons and inhibit lim-homeobox-6­expressing GPe neurons simultaneously using brief bursts of electrical stimulation. In DD mice, circuit-inspired DBS provided long-lasting therapeutic benefits that far exceeded those induced by conventional DBS, extending several hours after stimulation. These results establish the feasibility of transforming knowledge of circuit architecture into translatable therapeutic approaches.

Using Blogs as Practice Writing About Original Neuroscience Papers Enhances Students' Confidence in Their Critical Analysis of Research.

Increasing emphasis is being put on providing students with opportunities to read and write about primary scientific literature in undergraduate neuroscience education. Extensive research has indicated that students' attitudes and self-efficacy as well as writing quality improve when they are provided with opportunities for practice and feedback. Here we tested the value of using a blog format to practice writing about scientific research articles. Students were assigned small groups and did work on their own individual schedules to build toward time allotted in class to discuss the articles with their groups. Our goal was to build confidence in the students' ability to read and analyze original research articles. We found that the students in the junior-level Systems Neuroscience course had high confidence in their ability to read and analyze papers at the end of the blogging experience. Surprisingly, however, this did not manifest in a change in quality of final, higher stakes, written reports on original research articles when compared to a control sample from a previous year that did not include the blog assignments. We conclude that blogs provide a useful format for students to discuss research articles collaboratively while building confidence in their ability to analyze and discuss original neuroscience articles. Although the final reports' quality did not change compared to the earlier offering of the course, we believe that the blog experience is a valuable tool for building confidence and creating a positive experience for students in learning to read and analyze original neuroscience research articles.