Biology subjects

Moneron, G.

Publications and source records attributed to Moneron, G..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Synaptic dynamics as a tunable substrate shaping neuronal activity sequences

A central tenet of cerebellar computation posits that granule cells generate sparse spatiotemporal activity patterns that support precisely timed motor and cognitive outputs. Using high-speed in vivo calcium and glutamate imaging combined with slice electrophysiology, we show that heterogeneous synaptic dynamics transform mossy fiber inputs into temporally sparse, sequential patterns of GC activity. Region-specific differences in MF glutamate release shape GC response duration and sparsity, tuning the temporal statistics of population sequences to match sensorimotor associative learning demands. These findings provide direct evidence for temporally sparse GC sequences and establish synaptic dynamics as a ubiquitous, tunable mechanism structuring neural activity in time.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

A dendritic substrate for temporal diversity of cortical inhibition

In the mammalian neocortex, GABAergic interneurons (INs) inhibit cortical networks in profoundly different ways. The extent to which this depends on how different INs process excitatory signals along their dendrites is poorly understood. Here, we reveal that the functional specialization of two major populations of cortical INs is determined by the unique association of different dendritic integration modes with distinct synaptic organization motifs. We found that somatostatin (SST)-INs exhibit NMDAR-dependent dendritic integration and uniform synapse density along the dendritic tree. In contrast, dendrites of parvalbumin (PV)-INs exhibit passive synaptic integration coupled with proximally enriched synaptic distributions. Theoretical analysis shows that these two dendritic configurations result in different strategies to optimize synaptic efficacy in thin dendritic structures. Yet, the two configurations lead to distinct temporal engagement of each IN during network activity. We confirmed these predictions with in vivo recordings of IN activity in the visual cortex of awake mice, revealing a rapid and linear recruitment of PV-INs as opposed to a long-lasting integrative activation of SST-INs. Our work reveals the existence of distinct dendritic strategies that confer distinct temporal representations for the two major classes of neocortical INs and thus dynamics of inhibition.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Distinct nanoscale calcium channel and synaptic vesicle topographies contribute to the diversity of synaptic function

The nanoscale topographical arrangement of voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCC) and synaptic vesicles (SVs) determines synaptic strength and plasticity, but whether distinct spatial distributions underpin diversity of synaptic function is unknown. We performed single bouton Ca2+ imaging, Ca2+ chelator competition, immunogold electron microscopic (EM) localization of VGCCs and the active zone (AZ) protein Munc13-1, at two cerebellar synapses. Unexpectedly, we found that weak synapses exhibited 3-fold more VGCCs than strong synapses, while the coupling distance was 5-fold longer. Reaction-diffusion modelling could explain both functional and structural data with two strikingly different nanotopographical motifs: strong synapses are composed of SVs that are tightly coupled ([~]10 nm) to VGCC clusters, whereas at weak synapses VGCCs were excluded from the vicinity ([~]50 nm) of docked vesicles. The distinct VGCC-SV topographical motifs also confer differential sensitivity to neuromodulation. Thus VGCC-SV arrangements are not canonical across CNS synapses and their diversity could underlie functional heterogeneity.

neuroscience↗