Biology subjects

Gogolla, N.

Publications and source records attributed to Gogolla, N..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Cardiac signals shape insular cortex activity and emotion coding

Accumulating evidence suggests that cardiac information influences neuronal activity and fundamental brain functions across species. Yet, how the brain represents cardiovascular signals and how this may impact the processing of emotion states remains unclear. Here, we show that intracellular dynamics and single unit activity in the posterior insular cortex (pInsCtx) are precisely regulated by cardiac signals, with individual neurons tuned to heartbeats in a frequency-dependent manner. Furthermore, heartbeat tuning in the pInsCtx occurred preferentially during the first phase of the cardiac cycle, at systole. Heartbeat tuning increased during both appetitive and aversive emotion states, a process not simply explained by increases in heart rate. Manipulation of sympathetic cardiac arousal using beta-adrenergic blockade disrupted neuronal encoding of emotion states in the pInsCtx and blunted behavioral and bodily emotion expression. These findings reveal precise sensory coding of cardiovascular signals in the pInsCtx, which supports its role in encoding emotion states.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

The COMBO window: A chronic cranial implant for multiscale circuit interrogation in mice

Neuroscientists studying the neural correlates of mouse behavior often lack access to the brain-wide activity patterns elicited during a specific task of interest. Fortunately, large-scale imaging is becoming increasingly accessible thanks to modalities such as Ca2+ imaging and functional ultrasound (fUS). However, these and other techniques often involve challenging cranial window procedures, and are difficult to combine with other neuroscience tools. We address this need with an open-source 3D-printable cranial implant - the COMBO (ChrOnic Multimodal imaging and Behavioral Observation) window. The COMBO window enables chronic imaging of large portions of the brain in head-fixed mice while preserving orofacial movements. We validate the COMBO window stability using both brain-wide fUS and multi-site two-photon imaging. Moreover, we demonstrate how the COMBO window facilitates the combination of optogenetics, fUS and electrophysiology in the same animals to study the effects of circuit perturbations at both the brain-wide and single-neuron level. Overall, the COMBO window provides a versatile solution for performing multimodal brain recordings in head-fixed mice.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2020

A whole-brain connectivity map of mouse insular cortex

The insular cortex (IC) plays key roles in emotional and regulatory brain functions and is affected across psychiatric diseases. However, the brain-wide connections of the mouse IC have not been comprehensively mapped. Here we traced the whole-brain inputs and outputs of the mouse IC across its rostro-caudal extent. We employed cell-type specific monosynaptic rabies virus tracings to characterize afferent connections onto either excitatory or inhibitory IC neurons, and adeno-associated viral tracings to label excitatory efferent axons. While the connectivity between the IC and other cortical regions was highly reciprocal, the IC connectivity with subcortical structures was often unidirectional, revealing prominent top-down and bottom-up pathways. The posterior and medial IC exhibited resembling connectivity patterns, while the anterior IC connectivity was distinct, suggesting two major functional compartments. Our results provide insights into the anatomical architecture of the mouse IC and thus a structural basis to guide investigations into its complex functions.

neuroscience↗