How the brain signals prediction errors for non-rewarding, yet significant, sensory events remains a central question. Although the cortical mismatch negativity provides a well-known signature for deviance detection, the contribution of subcortical dopamine remains unclear. This study tested the hypothesis that phasic dopamine in the nucleus accumbens encodes the salience associated with the violation of an ongoing statistical regularity. Using fiber photometry in freely moving rats, we contrasted an auditory oddball paradigm with a many-standards control. Deviant stimuli elicited a significantly amplified dopamine response compared with standard stimuli. Crucially, this dopamine response enhancement was absent in the control condition, demonstrating that the nucleus accumbens dopamine responds specifically to rule violation rather than mere stimulus rarity. The long latency of this signal (~500 ms) relative to the cortical mismatch negativity argues against a direct role in the initial detection of deviance. Instead, our findings support a model in which subcortical dopamine acts as a distinct salience signal, operating in parallel with cortical deviance detection, to evaluate unexpected events and guide subsequent behavioral adjustments.

Making appropriate decisions relies on the brain's capacity to evaluate the expected outcomes of available options and select the most rewarding action. The ventral striatum and midbrain dopamine neurons have been implicated in the option valuation process, consistent with the brain's reinforcement learning theory in which these brain structures encode and update value representations of expected outcomes. Extending beyond this framework, we found that the dopamine-ventral striatum system plays a more proactive role in action selection. We recorded single-unit activity from ventral striatum neurons in macaque monkeys as they sequentially evaluated an option, decided whether to perform an action to choose it, and expressed that motor action. The activity of these neurons initially reflected the value of the option but gradually shifted to reflect monkey's action selection, as if the ventral striatum translates the value information into the action. Moreover, optogenetic facilitation of dopamine input to the ventral striatum as well as electrical stimulation of this region altered monkey's action selection. Our findings reveal a previously unappreciated function of the ventral striatum as a neural hub that bridges option valuation and action selection, and demonstrate the contribution of dopamine in the process leading to action selection within this region.

The striatum comprises a network characterized by a highly shared feedforward inhibition (FFI) mediated by fast-spiking interneurons (FSI), which constitute only 1% of the striatal population. We investigated the dynamical consequences of this extensively shared FFI beyond inducing synchrony in a local striatal microcircuit. Our findings reveal that increased FFI sharing enhances the across-trial variability of striatal responses, activity of medium spiny neurons (MSNs), to cortical inputs, and endows the striatal network with the capacity to modulate output correlations in a bidirectional manner. Specifically, weakly shared cortical inputs become more correlated, whereas strongly shared cortical inputs are decorrelated in the presence of FSIs. These dynamic modulatory effects on MSNs, in turn, substantially alter the spiking statistics of downstream neurons in the globus pallidus, regarding across-trial variability and burstiness.

Recent advances in the field of Voltage Imaging, with a special focus on new constructs and novel implementations.

Work related to place tuning, spatial navigation, orientation and direction. Mainly includes articles on connectivity in the hippocampus, retrosplenial cortex, and related areas.

Basal Ganglia Advances is a collection highlighting research on the structure, function, and disorders of the basal ganglia. It features studies spanning neuroscience, clinical insights, and computational models, serving as a hub for advances in movement, cognition, and behavior.

Advances in optical techniques and two-photon (2P) sensitive genetic voltage indicators (GEVIs) enabled in-depth voltage imaging at single-spike and single-cell resolution. These results were achieved using ASAP-type sensors, while rhodopsin-based GEVIs were mainly used with one-photon (1P) illumination. Here, we demonstrate compatibility of rhodopsin-based GEVIs with 2P illumination. We rationally engineer a fully genetically encoded, rhodopsin-based GEVI, just another voltage indicating sensor (Jarvis), and demonstrate its utility under 1P and 2P illumination. We further show 2P usability of the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-opsin GEVIs pAce and Voltron2. Comparing 2P scanless with fast 2P scanning illumination revealed that responses are resolved with both approaches, but FRET-opsin GEVIs show improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) with low irradiance, inherent to scanless illumination. Utilizing Jarvis and pAce, we establish high-SNR action potential detection at kilohertz imaging rates in mouse hippocampal slices, zebrafish larvae, and the cortex of awake mice, demonstrating high-contrast action potential detection under 2P illumination with rhodopsin-based GEVIs in vitro and in vivo.

Accumulating longitudinal evidence suggests considerable stability in employees' work-family experiences over extended periods. However, this apparent stability may mask meaningful changes that earlier research could not detect, as prior studies often lacked designs suited to capturing shocks that alter the work-family interface and relied on long measurement intervals that can miss the adaptation process. To elucidate changes in employees' work-family interface and the resources that enable adaptation, we examine the work-eldercare interface among working informal caregivers of older adults in Singapore ( = 193) during the COVID-19 pandemic using a three-wave, "shortitudinal" design (prepandemic, during lockdown, postlockdown). Growth curve modeling revealed differential trajectories across work-eldercare constructs; work-to-eldercare conflict continued to worsen over time, eldercare-to-work conflict exhibited a partial rebound pattern, work-to-eldercare enrichment was maintained over time, and eldercare-to-work enrichment showed an improvement pattern. We also uncover important variations in how (i.e., as a stable reservoir or a dynamic supply) and for whom support at work (family-supportive supervisor behaviors [FSSBs]) and family (work-supportive family [WSF]) facilitated adaptation. Beyond between-person FSSB, within-person increases in FSSB predicted favorable trajectories of all four work-eldercare experiences. Within-person WSF did not influence trajectories beyond between-person WSF. Trait resilience enhanced the benefits of between-person FSSB and WSF on initial eldercare-to-work enrichment and work-to-eldercare enrichment, respectively, whereas within-person FSSB and WSF related to the eldercare-to-work conflict trajectory only among those lower on trait resilience. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Recovery from gaming disorder can be difficult because it requires reducing or abstaining from an activity that once fulfilled important psychological needs such as social connection, achievement, and escape. This research examined whether nostalgia for the perceived benefits of gaming-termed addiction-related nostalgia-undermines recovery and whether such nostalgia arises from continued identification as a gamer.